Just to reiterate what Big Gee said in a comment, my computer is shot, so until I get a new one and transfer everything, I will not be able to post anything new. So please be patient, and those of you who thought I’d given up the ghost – hard luck! For I shall soon be hunting you down again, re-armed and refreshed from my wee break.<\/p>\n
UPDATE 11.02.2017:<\/strong><\/span><\/span> I’ve splashed out on a new machine but it’s going to take a few days to get back in the flow. It seems I screwed up the hard drive rather than the motherboard, and not everything was backed up. Ah well!<\/p>\n UPDATE 16.02.2017:<\/strong><\/span> I was pushing on, I’d set up my e-mail accounts – downloading 11,000+ old messages from one account! – and even getting somewhere with unlocking the folders on the external hard drive, when disaster struck in the form of a power cut, or perhaps a power surge; either way, it scrubbed almost everything from my new machine and now I’m back to the bare bones and trying to put it all together again.<\/p>\n If it hadn’t been dark, and if my lump hammer hadn’t been in the shed, this latest episode could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, ending my association with computers in a very ugly scene.<\/p>\n I shall try to pick up the pieces, again, but another major setback could be the end of the line.<\/p>\n UPDATE 19.02.2017:<\/strong><\/span> I have persevered with my ill-judged purchase for long enough, so last night I filled in the online form warning PC World that I shall be returning it in the morning. I am prepared to splash out a bit more money to get a better machine and – on Big Gee’s recommendation – a UPS unit to protect from power cuts and surges.<\/p>\n After Aberystwyth (and if it’s OK with him) I plan to mosey on down to Aberaeon and leave my old machine with Big Gee in the hope that he can breathe on it, and if a full recovery is out of the question then I’ll settle for being able to salvage what I need.<\/p>\n While I remain computerless I can only apologise to my readers, and the ladies in Tywyn library who’ll be wondering why I’ve suddenly become such a regular visitor. As my phone isn’t set up for e-mails Twitter might be the only way to contact me, it’s @jacothenorth.<\/p>\n So there we are. Fingers crossed!<\/p>\n UPDATE 25.02.2017:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0I did it. I went to PC World and got a tidy machine, even splashed out on a new monitor. I’ve spent this week familiarising myself with it and trying to retrieve the stuff I’ve lost. My old machine was well and truly knackered, with Big Gee unable to salvage anything. Most of what I’ve lost is almost certainly on my external hard drive, so some time next week I shall sit myself down and work on it.<\/span><\/p>\n I also managed to get back my e-mails and contacts, going back 12 years or more, thousands and thousands of e-mails . . . then I lost them again! I somehow managed to lock myself out of Incredimail by changing my ‘identity’. So I have re-installed Incredimail and will go through the process again. One bright note was that I found all my documents, music, photos and videos on BT Cloud, and they are now safely on the new machine.<\/p>\n The big story in Wales over recent weeks has obviously been the Llangennech school dispute, and the lies and smears it has generated – all from one side, with those anti-Welsh protesters, or possibly ‘Welsh’ Labour’s press office, also managing to get a wholly misleading story in Private Eye<\/em> and a disgusting account of the affair in the Wasting Mule<\/em>, which was forced to issue an apology the very next day.<\/p>\n Fortunately, the Llangennech dispute has been well covered in the blogosphere, Cneifiwr<\/a> and Caru Cymru<\/a> are deserving of special mention. So lest I lose my treasured position among the blogs most hated by ‘Welsh’ Labour, the Third Sector, Plaid Cymru, Ukip, liberals, socialists, Unionists, Lib Dems, Tories, Swansea council, housing associations, Carmarthenshire council, the tourism industry, etc., etc., etc.,<\/em> I’d better push on and get out a post.<\/p>\n Expect something on Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Just to reiterate what Big Gee said in a comment, my computer is shot, so until I get a new one and transfer everything, I will not be able to post anything new. So please be patient, and those of you who thought I’d given up the ghost – hard luck! For I shall soon … <\/p>\n