Yup, this morning, after nine years of loyal and faithful service, my computer finally died with a loud bang and a nasty smell of burning. P has resurrected it twice before but this time we both feel it might be time to buy a new one. The first time P brought it back from the dead it took him a couple of months to get it working - amid much swearing, shouting and tearing of hair (and that was just me!) but it soidiered on for another three years with no problems at all. Second time he managed to get it working again a lot quicker with the help of a new motherboard - this repair gave another 20 months of use. This time it's definitely curtains.
I don't think nine years for a computer base unit is too bad going, especially as it gets used A LOT every day. On the positive side, it will be lovely to have a computer where I can actually delete my photos when I want to, can view websites that are heavy on photographs without having to wait a.g.e.s for them to download and, fingers crossed, I'll be able to view the BBC iPllayer service. Every cloud etc etc.
Two much more positive things though are:
1. The neighbour whose garage borders our garden had a chap in this morning to replace the guttering. As he had to get into our garden to do it I asked if he could have a quick look at what I suspected was a blocked gutter on our roof too (once he'd finished the other job, of course.) The gutter has been pouring water whenever it rains, and irritatingly dripping almost constantly this winter. He did a sterling job on both the neighbour's garage guttering and with unblocking our gutter - yuk, it looked a horribly mucky job. And all he charged me was a fiver. Excellent service. He's recently been laid-off working as a builder but I foresee him having no shortage of work in our area as he was a really tidy workman, charged very reasonable rates and actually arrived bang on time.
2. I bought a £2.99 boiling bacon in the butchers on Friday so that I could make Nigella Lawson's delicious 'Gammon Cooked in Cider' recipe. In the past I've always bought the boiling bacon in Aldi but the one's in the butchers looked much nicer for roughly the same price. I couldn't believe how much meat there was for the money - no way that even P and I could eat it all in one sitting (and we have both got good appetites.) I chopped up the leftovers - meat and carrots and leeks, boiled up some dried Penne Pasta, mixed it all together, added a cheese sauce and baked it in the oven. Well, it was truly delicious and there is even still some of that left over. That £2.99 piece of meat has provided enough for five or six separate (and very generous) servings.
Postings will be a bit sporadic for the next week or so as I'm off to Bristol tomorrow to see the family.
Poor computer, enjoy the time without a computer.
That recipe sounds intreaguing!
Posted by: Frugal Trenches | 02/18/2009 at 10:55 AM
Thank you - it arrived yesterday.. I love it, award for you on my blog tomorrow!
Posted by: apieceofwood | 02/18/2009 at 06:39 PM