Confessions of a Theatre Snob

Friday, February 29, 2008

The trouble with technology

I finally bought a new computer a couple of weeks ago. I’d got to the point where it was either the old computer, or my sanity that was going out the window. It was taking me about 20 minutes to log on, (I know a computer shouldn’t need to ‘warm up’ but mine did!) and at least 5 minutes to open an email attachment – as I get a lot of work email attachments, you can tell how much time I was wasting.

So, I’d been thinking about this for a while, but buying a computer is a very scary prospect. Mainly, I think, because I was sold a heap of trash when I bought my first one*and I really know nothing about how they work, what size RAM, cache, hard drive, whatever… I need (really, it’s a whole other language).

Having walked in to PC World a few times, (and walked out again as I was too scared to talk to anyone), and canvassed opinion from friends, and colleagues, I finally decided to go for a laptop, mainly because I could then go ‘WiFi’ and work around the house. Having decided that, and about how much I wanted to spend, I then started to look at the options.

I checked out all the usual stores (is it wrong to reject Comet because I didn’t like their yellow shirts?), and ended up back in PC world, where they seemed to have the best selection. Having circled round the laptops for quite a while, waiting for someone to take pity on me and ask if I wanted some help, I finally plucked up courage to speak to one of the assistants (how come they’re all boys who look about 12?).

I ended up with a sony vaio**, which is quite pretty. I was also going to buy a wireless router, but was informed that the only one compatible with AOL was £80! So it was clearly time to get rid of AOL*** and find a new broadband provider. Which meant I was only able to link up to the internet yesterday, as my new hub was finally delivered.

I was faced with this box with various wires and leads in it, to try and work out what I should do. I got it all connected up, and then tried to set up the WiFi. Hmmmm, it found a router ok, but it wasn’t one that arrived in my stuff. I tried again. Still no luck.

So, at the moment, I’m connected, but not WiFi. I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy!

*and no, I don’t mean the one I’ve been using, I mean the one before that, which really was the biggest heap of rubbish, and never worked properly – in fact, I never even managed to connect it to the internet!

**further rant, why oh why do they only give you a ‘quick start guide’ on paper, and you have to look everything else up on the computer – when I’m trying to work out how to do something, I like to have a book of instructions to hand.

***which again, I’ve never liked, but once you’ve got it on your computer, it’s impossible to get rid of it.

Monday, February 25, 2008

There must be a book in this


We didn’t walk on Friday. Mainly because I was getting my hair done. So, as is the way of things, we lunched instead. At Harville’s. I hadn’t been for a while, and they’ve had it closed for a few weeks, to expand and refurbish. It’s now got a new cocktail bar upstairs, and an expanded champagne and oyster bar downstairs, but unfortunately I didn't have time to explore, so I'll need to make a return visit. In celebration of the fact, however, we drank champagne with our ‘express lunch’. It may not be a natural combination with fish and chips, but it was pretty damn good.

So yesterday, I decided that I would go for a walk, rather than do house work (or, more likely, veg out in front of the tv, or read a book). We walked along the river, into town, and out to the millennium bridge, accompanied by our ‘honorary handbag walker’, K, (his camera bag gives him admittance to the group), who didn’t so much walk with us, as trail about 50 yards behind, taking photos.

As always, we stopped at a tea shop, one of our favourites, the little Belgian café which is built into Skeldergate bridge. We decided to be hardy and sit outside by the river, but it did get pretty cold, and I was chilled through for the rest of the walk. Once again, walking through town makes me realise how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful city. You pass by so much history on the route, the station and the railway which brought a new lease of life to the city in the 19th Century, and which also brought my maternal ancestors here. The bar walls, the Roman multangular tower, the site of St Mary’s Abbey, the old medieval houses which are now shops, and that you don’t even realise their age until you look up, rather than charging, head down, along the street from shop to shop. Further along, we come to Rowntree Park, and the Quaker/chocolate heritage of York. I mention that the first place I ever went swimming was the open air pool. As we pass by the duck pond, V asks if you could paddle in it, clearly thinking this is the pool! I explain that it was a 'proper' pool, though long demolished now.

As we walk, we talk about our plans for the ‘handbag walkers’ book, for surely there must be other ‘casual walkers’ like us. It would feature walks, and teas shops, and shopping, all the essential elements, and all rated. I think there's a market out there.

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Thursday, February 21, 2008

'We need more drama'



Last week, we did our first ‘handbag walk’ of the year. Well, it was two walks actually, before and after lunch (for there always has to be lunch).

The first walk was rather dull, both the weather and the scenery, consisting mostly of a housing estate – it was supposed to be the battlefield of Stamford Bridge, but nearly a thousand years later, there isn’t really very much to see, and the only reminder is the street names.

After lunch, as the sun had decided to come out, we decided to do a second walk. This time much more ‘off road’. I suppose when it said it was by the river across the ings, it was an indicator, but it was pretty muddy. I’m not sure many people had walked it since the last time the Ouse flooded, and we had to do quite a bit of scrambling over flood debris. We even had an OS map this time (see photographic evidence of this fact). There was a lot of slipping, and sliding, and crossing of becks and rickety bridges.

As time was marching on, we decided to cut up the side of a wood rather than keep to the river – think less 'field', and more ‘quagmire’. There was allegedly a tumulus in the wood, but we decided not to bother trying to find it. My beautiful shoes are now very muddy, and so were my trousers.

It was pretty dramatic, so, I suppose a good opener for this year’s walking season.

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Friday, February 15, 2008

Not the best way to spend the weekend

The last time I wrote, I was anticipating a very hectic week. It was another of those ‘thousand mile’ weeks, and by last Friday night I was exhausted, having not only worked every day, driven for hours, but also having been out most evenings.

The weekend was to be set aside for catching up with things, looking at computers (for yes, I have finally decided that this one needs to go before I actually do throw it out of the window) and possibly a walk.

What I wasn’t anticipating was agonising pain last Friday night, which led to me ringing the emergency doctors in the middle of the night, and spending most of Saturday in hospital. Having been told first to drive there - ‘erm, no, I don’t think I can!’ (what part of ‘agonising’ do you not understand?) – and then told to get a taxi, K&V were absolute stars and took me in.

I’ve never been an in patient before, and I didn’t realise how noisy hospitals are. York Hospital is even more so, as it backs onto the railway line – if the hospital noise doesn’t wake you up, then the Scarborough train will!

They also assume that you know how things work – I didn’t, which meant I didn’t manage to get any food while I was there. By the time I went home, I wasn’t sure if the pain was returning, or it was hunger pangs, but I certainly wasn’t going to tell them, or remind them that they were going to do blood tests, as they might have decided to keep me there. As I was drugged up, they let me go home at 4 O’clock. All I wanted by that time was my own bed, and sleep. I slept most of Sunday too.

Unfortunately it does probably mean that I will have to go back again, as I don’t think it’s going to go away without some action.

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Sunday, February 03, 2008

You know how I hold a grudge!

We’re sitting in Bobo Lobo, drinking Bellinis*, and reminiscing, as you tend to these days when a Griffin gig is on the horizon. Behind me, on the TV screen, the bar is showing ‘the 100 greatest love songs’, but with the sound turned off, as they’re actually playing latino music.

Suddenly Coza stops mid sentence.
‘Oh My God!’
‘What?’
‘Look!’

I turn round in my seat, and on the screen is the ‘artist’ who will always be known as ‘Bedingplant’. We can’t even hear it, but we both have the same memories, of an October evening, that will be 5 years ago this year..

‘I still can’t listen to it, you know. If it comes on the radio, I have to turn it off.’ Thankfully, this time, the bar have already done this!

*and very good ones they were too.

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Bad days

In the early new year I had a conversation with my boss about my workload, and, perhaps more importantly, the travelling that I do, for it’s actually that which gets me down. He was very sympathetic and responsive, but the trouble is, so far, not much has changed.

I work hard, but for me work is what provides the resources to do the things I really love, e.g. theatre. The workload is huge in both places that I work at the moment, and the timescale for delivering on the current agenda is the same in both places. It all came to a bit of a head two weeks ago, when I felt I was sinking fast. I think that was the darkest hour, as I couldn’t see a way through it. I did commission some help with some of the work, but there is still the stuff that I need to do. It isn’t going to go away, and I can’t see how I can meet the deadlines.

My rational head, which has surfaced for a brief moment today, knows that I will come through this, just as I did through the last workload crisis. My irrational head is looking at the week ahead and just wishing it was already over.

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