Modern Technology.

I may be a baby boomer, and not have graduated from high school, but that does not mean I am averse to learning about IT and other techno advances. But, I have a loooong way go to catch up to my son. I am not foolish enough to think I ever will. If I only knew half as much as he does about computers, I would be a very happy chick.
Over the previous two nights, as mentioned in his Blog, Frugal Bastard, he instructed me on how to apply some new soft ware. Now, it is hard enough when you are on the other end of a telephone and 3.000klms away and cannot see the screen, but it is even more difficult when your old Ma is legally blind,(less than 10% in one eye, and bugger all in the other) and she is not very savvy with the jargon and has great dificulty reading. It makes for a VERY slow process. I'dips me lid' to you son! I guess if I had a job where I had to use the thing all day, I would soon learn more. Speed the day! I have tried to publish a post since we did the work, but it would not publish. Here goes nothing. See you all later. I hope.

Crocodile Hunters

I have just watched an item on A Current Affair about Steve Irwin, the so called , crocodile hunter. He is not one of my favourite people, as I think he is over the top with how he presents himself. But that aside, he is passionately trying to protect the wild life indigenous to the Top End of this great country of ours. Tonight's story was about one of the daughters of the late Sara Henderson from Bullo River station, Marlee, by name. She is trying to get a licence to hunt crocs for sport. She wants to bring 'big game hunters' here, and charge them exorbitant fees to hunt these reptiles. There are a certain number that are culled each year, and she can't see why they should not be shot for sport. Now, I am not a lover of anything reptilian, but, I think this is a bit obscene. She wants to charge $1,000.00 per foot, and for a fifteen footer, that is a lot of moula. Steve Irwin was very crafty, if you like, in getting the minister for the envoironment to participate in the capture and tagging of one of the big fellas, to try to convince him they need to be protected more. They are left over from the Dinasaur age, and I think they need to be looked after. It would not do a lot for the tourist industry either if they are hunted like this.

The manners of some people

I shall start with a conversation I had with my brother, nearly two weeks ago. I rang him to enquire as to whether he liked the singing style of Cleo Laine. He said he did, but asked why I wanted to know. I asked if he had a record player. He said he did, but again asked why I wanted to know. I said I had been given some of her records, and wanted to know who I could give them to, as I am not a fan of her style of singing. I admire her talent greatly, but she doesn't 'send' me. I asked him what he was doing, as he seemed more distracted than usual when I ring. He said he was mucking around on his computer. What is so unusual about that you may be asking? Nothing, apart from the fact only a couple of months ago, this same man had said, he didn't know anything about them and didn't want to know anything.He was having a ball! I asked him where he had bought it, and he said from the local High School, and it had cost him peanuts. Later that week, I was talking to my daughter Deb. When I mentioned about her uncle having a computer, she asked if I would make enquiries for her as to the availability of any more. I duly did so, and was told they had three more, but the hard drives didn't work. I was talking to my son about it, and told him I had been quoted a price of $1,500.00 for a new HDD. He said that was ridiculous, and told me he could get one for a mere fraction of that.
I went into the school yesterday morning and told the receptionist, that if they had a computer that needed a HDD, and they were prepared to sell it to me as is, I could get the HDD myself. She went to ask the teacher about it, and came back and told me I could take it there and then. I was quite surprised, but very chuffed. I was not expecting that to happen so soon.
I went in to pay for it this morning, and ran into the woman I had phoned about it. I think she is on the school commitee and said I had my computer, with the sole purpose of letting her know that I had it, so she could take my name off the list. She then proceeded to let me know that it was not meant to be mine it was meant for someone else. Intimating she thought I had jumped the queue! This is NOT the case, as that is one of my pet hates.
She continued to heap coals on my head, at the same time agreeing with me that it was not my mistake. If I had been in her shoes, I would not have said anything, being very concious of the other person's feelings, and not wanting them to feel bad.
This is the bad manners the title refers to.