Two weeks off line, well almost two weeks. I thought I would be lost without my computer, but it was not as difficult as I anticipated.

I did miss my emails and ended up with about 200 after I had got rid of the spam. I am still working my way though these to catch up on news.

The company that took the computer were not very supportive, and they most certainly did not give me the same information when I rang. First time I contacted them was because our daughter had left a new game in the disc drive. They said that they would post it back to us. Then the man said that the workshop was quiet and it would only take a couple of days to mend the computer so I said not to bother. That was Monday. When I had not heard anything by Friday, I rang again to be told that they had not even looked at the computer yet!! I was annoyed, the man earlier in the week had led me to believe that it would be done and back in a few days.  This meant that my computer sat in their workshop for a week without even being looked at. Finally on Wednesday I got a phone call to say that the computer was done and could they deliver it on Thursday. I asked about what was done and the young woman said she did not know much about computers! She read what she could from the sheet and it seems that the company took a week and a half to use compressed air to blow the dust out of the box and then they reinstalled the OS (I assume that means operating system).

Thursday was our wedding anniversary, 26 years, and we were going out so I made sure that the boys were able to be around to take delivery of my computer. As it was we were still home when it arrived. We checked for the games disc and it was not there. I tried to ring them but could not get through, so I left my second son to try and talk to them. I was so pleased that he managed and they promised to post the disc on. It arrived on Friday.

It is so good to have it back. I can chat on-line with fellow APS and lupus people. It is a lifeline for those of us who are disabled and cannot do certain things.

We also had disruption of a new boiler last week. The plumber told us on Wednesday that he was able to start on Thursday. So we had to tidy up very quickly. He said it would take two days to take out old boiler, put new boiler in airing cupboard. Take out old tank as the new style boilers don’t need tanks. He also was to put individual thermostats on the radiators.

He did not allow for the walls being made of something really hard. His drill broke the first day. He borrowed one and that one broke as well, so he had to go out and spend £350 on a new drill. The hole for the vent took hours of drilling, don’t know what the walls are made of, but I assume it means that the house is solid.

He left us about 3 on Saturday saying that he was not sure what to do about the thermostats. The radiators are apparently old and he thinks that he may need to replace them. It is at times like this that I am glad we live in a rented home and so we do not have to pay for this sort of repair.

The plumber is due back today and we will have to ask him why the water pressure is so low when you try and run a bath. Hopefully it is something simple and we can press a button or turn a knob and it will work properly.