Fixed Computer

As much as I wanted to just buy a new DELL from the DELL outlet, after buying an engagement ring buying anything scares teh crap out of me. So I did the obvious first and took my case off. Inside was about 3 inches of dust, 13 birds nests and a snake. So I got the vacuum cleaner out, vacuumed and tried to be careful not to suck off any jumpers, and reinstalled XP onto a new hard drive.

Goodbye Vista, welcome back XP. (Oooh, how fast my new PC is!)

Now to reinstall everything. Luckily I've kept my Lightroom backups up to date.

Broken Computer

My computer is broken. It's some hardware failure, Vista is so crap the blue screen literally is just a blue screen, doesn't tell me anything. I've only managed to get one minidump out of it and it told me nothing that it's a "hardware failure", but I can't pin it down any more than that as it was only a minidump.

I'm gonna strip it down as I've a feeling it's heat related, seeing as it's at its most stable when it's first turned on. Check the fans, make sure the memory is still seated etc. I may also check in another hard drive and re-install XP just so I have a clean system to diagnose with.

I just bought an engagement ring, I can't afford a new PC as well, not for about another 3 years anyway.

Miserable

The weather has been so bad this October, I was really hoping for a spectacular autumn, and all we have is rotting leaves on boggy ground. It's so depressing. And the other day I had to spend about 4 hours outside trying to coax one of our kittens back inside who escaped, then I got freezing, and then soaked and covered in mud when at one point I laid down in the mud which was once our garden trying to coax her through the hedge.

All I want to do is go to Westonbirt to take a picture of the trees. I guess I'll just wait and go on my birthday and do the Enchanted Walk again. And try to capture Autumn next year.

So far this month, I think in fact I have not even taken one photograph. But I have run 19.45 miles, and burnt in the region of 2,669 calories. I don't think I've lost very much weight, maybe a kilos or two at most, but to be honest the scales fluctuate so much I have no idea what I weigh. But running is easier now so it must be doing some good. Although with the evening being so very dark now it's hard to run my normal route which takes my up a lane and through trees with no street lights. It's completely pitch black. I'll have to take a torch with my next time so I don't have to walk just so I don't run into anything!

The other day I did buy some skin tight lycra tights because it is so damn cold. I'm no Linford Christie I guess, but they are still embarrasing to wear without shorts. I also bought almost the most expensive pair of socks in the world because I had a problem with my foot. They were £8 a pair. My last socks I got from JJB Sports and were like £2 for a pack of 5 or something. But they are cotton and the trouble with cotton is it absorbs sweat and swells. The problem I had was pins and needles in my left foot after about 3 miles. The internet told me this was either too tight shoes, or a problem with my ligaments which a hamstring stretch would help. So I am doing extra stretches before and after running, and I have these new socks. They're are pretty comfortable, and make a huge difference to running just wearing them. So far also I've not had the circulation problem also, but my long run isn't until tomorrow morning so will see then.

I don't care how cold it gets, I just hope November is brighter. What I wouldn't give to see some snow this December too.