My Inner World

Right, so Hotmail? Was not being my friend over the last while. It was annoying me no end, because I like to reply to comments through e-mail. Sometimes I could read my mail, but not reply. Other times, I could not even get past the log in screen. Sometimes, I could compose an e-mail and send it, but not reply to the reply I got.
I was ready to fling the whole thing out the window!

My friend, who is much wiser in all things computer/Internet, told me my Internet security settings were set waaaaaaayy to high and mentioned some other stuff, that frankly, just induced "Blank Stare" on my face.
And then says, "But sure, you don't need Hotmail to reply to comments, you can just reply in the comments themselves..."
DOH! Ofcourse I could! I was just foccusing on this Hotmail thing so much, that I had'nt even considered replying through comments..... How "blond" is that?

Lesson learned: Do not get so focussed on one issue that you close yourself off to other perfectly use-able alternatives!

My very good friend, Mieke, is over to visit us from the Netherlands, so I will not be sitting down at the laptop to do the e-mail/blogging/computer thing too much while she's here. (She's still in bed now, having a well deserved lie in, lucky so and so! :-) )

But you can bet your cotton socks that I will be blogging and e-mailing again on Monday night.

On Tuesday night, Paddy was having a smoke at the front of the house. (There is absolutely no smoking in the house, none, nada, zilch).
We live in a corner house, and as such have the added bonus of having a side gate to get to and from the back garden. All of a sudden, he hears someone sliding the bolt from the garden side. And lo and behold, two men come sauntering out of our back garden as brazen as you like.

Paddy recognized them as being the same two lads that had been by the house a few weeks earlier to try and sell us pillows from the back of their blue van. They are from the traveling community. They are sometimes (very un-PC) referred to as "Knackers". This community has scared the living mess out of me in my almost 7 years here and let's just say that my feelings for them as less than warm and fuzzy.

Paddy: "Lads, WTF?!"
Knackers: "No worries Boss, no trouble"
Paddy: "No worries?? You're in my back garden for F sake!"
Knackers: "Just taking a shortcut Boss, taxi will be here any minute now."
Paddy:"Shortcut my *rse! What the F were you doing there?"
Knackers: "Shortcut Boss"
Paddy:"I'm calling the guards" (Police.)

This went on for a bit, and while Paddy was talking to them (Dubliners use the "F" word quite liberally, it's just the way they speak) he was making a mental note of exactly what these lads looked like. He then went in, and called the guards and gave them a such a detailed description, it impressed the officer who answered. They had had more reports and were at the house in under 10 minutes.

In the meanwhile, I made sure all the doors and windows were locked! This kind of thing creeps me out. My brother in law is a Detective in a special Guarda unit. His house is alarmed to the rafters, he is very physically capable and carries a gun. (There are two safes in the house, one for the gun, one for the ammunition, far apart from each other.) They have two little girls.

They got burgled last week, when all of them were asleep in their beds.

They removed the panel from the backdoor and came in through the utility room. Now, if THEY aren't safe. Living in what can only be described as a domestic Fort Knox, what chance do we stand if these people decide to do some clandestine shopping at our house?

About 18 months ago, the doorbell went one afternoon. Munchkin on my hip, I went to see who it was, expecting to see some charity collector or something. It was a girl, about 19 years old, very scruffy looking. Hair all greasy and stringy. Wearing a dirty tracksuit and a very spaced out look on her face. She asked if this was Nr 1. **** Drive. When I said it wasn't, she asked would I drive her there. When I said I wouldn't. She demanded I give her money for a taxi there. I had already maneuvered my foot behind the door, just in case. And twisted my body so that Munchkin was away from her.
The whole conversation played out in about 10 seconds and I was quick to shut the door and lock it. Only once I was back on the sofa, with Munchkin in my arms, did I really realize how nasty this could have gotten.

When I lived in Dublin city center we were also burgled when we all slept. Everything of any value - gone. Including a diary containing the letter my friend's father wrote to her on his death bed.....

People like this infuriate me. Entering people's homes, breaching their sense of safety and security. Taking what these people have worked hard for to obtain. We go to work, we put in the hours, only to have scum like that scale our walls and snatch whatever they bloody well like?!
We have to go to bed, ears wide open to listen out if this trash is going to pay us a visit?

We have to pay because these low-lifes decide a decent job is beneath them, or doesn't pay enough? Or to support some addiction that they choose to indulge in and are now stuck with? I didn't jam that needle up your arm Buddy, that was all you!

And, in both The Netherlands and Ireland, if you catch one of these b*stards and beat them to a pulp, YOU can be done for GBH! (Grievous Bodily Harm). It's so backward, it almost leaves me speechless.

They are making me fear for my families safety in my own home. And I hate them for it.

Last Sunday, I was sitting at the laptop, happily backing up our digital photographs to CD, when *poof* the lights went out and every. single. housealarm in the neighbourhood went on! Total and complete blackout!
But, thanks to the miracle that is the laptop battery, I was able to spend the next hour, like so:

Computers at candlelight: Welcome to the 21st Century! :-)