We have the power

The blokes from British Gas, who, in this deregulated world now provide our electricity, arrived at about 9.45 this morning and we are now no longer on a key meter. Indeed not, no. We now have a proper, grown up electricity meter, which means that we shouldn't run out of power at regular and annoyingly timed intervals (provided we pay the proper, grown up bill that we will now receive).

My, my, but haven't electricity meters moved on? I haven't seen a new one since, well since forever, as far as I can recall. In every house that I've lived in and had to worry about the electricity or gas, the meters have been large Bakelite monsters with reassuringly analogue number rollers on them (I'm sure there's a more elegant term, but it eludes me for now). They have also generally been the size of a car battery. Larger if they have required feeding with 50p or £1 coins.

Our new meter, on the other hand, is excitingly digital and about the same size as a late 1970s calculator and that seems largely so that it can mount a reassuringly large and friendly LCD display.

I have just been around the house and reset all the clocks. I can now forget how to do that as we are on a proper, adult supply now. Hurrah!

I now have an entire day with little to nothing planned. I might go and doze for a bit. Or I may not. The world is my lobster.

We have the power

The blokes from British Gas, who, in this deregulated world now provide our electricity, arrived at about 9.45 this morning and we are now no longer on a key meter. Indeed not, no. We now have a proper, grown up electricity meter, which means that we shouldn't run out of power at regular and annoyingly timed intervals (provided we pay the proper, grown up bill that we will now receive).

My, my, but haven't electricity meters moved on? I haven't seen a new one since, well since forever, as far as I can recall. In every house that I've lived in and had to worry about the electricity or gas, the meters have been large Bakelite monsters with reassuringly analogue number rollers on them (I'm sure there's a more elegant term, but it eludes me for now). They have also generally been the size of a car battery. Larger if they have required feeding with 50p or £1 coins.

Our new meter, on the other hand, is excitingly digital and about the same size as a late 1970s calculator and that seems largely so that it can mount a reassuringly large and friendly LCD display.

I have just been around the house and reset all the clocks. I can now forget how to do that as we are on a proper, adult supply now. Hurrah!

I now have an entire day with little to nothing planned. I might go and doze for a bit. Or I may not. The world is my lobster.

Computers

There should be a sort of geeky fun in running two computers at the same time.

I have dug out my laptop for the first time in about six months because I want to use the DVD burner on it at some point in the near future, but of course I am now having to download and install 6 months' worth of security updates. That means that it is down in colonel_maxim's computer room rather than up here in The Tower because I don't have a spare cable long enough to trail down to the router. (Yes, yes, we could go wireless, but that would involve expenditure we don't need to make).

This all means that I can't pretend to be a computing Rick Wakeman and plap along on two keyboards simultaneously - though that is probably a good thing on many levels, not least through my complete inability to type independently with individual hands (I can barely type on a single keyboard; two simultaneously is just begging for trouble). It would be nice to be able to run both machines on the internet up here, but I am still not over the sometimes-it-works-sometimes-it-doesn't attempts to branch the internet connection through a subsidiary router so that we could plumb in (as it were) ellefurtle's Mac for use up in The Tower.

It's not a big problem as I don't use the laptop that often, but it would be nice. It does mean that I get to use my PC-barbecue icon again, though.

Computers

There should be a sort of geeky fun in running two computers at the same time.

I have dug out my laptop for the first time in about six months because I want to use the DVD burner on it at some point in the near future, but of course I am now having to download and install 6 months' worth of security updates. That means that it is down in colonel_maxim's computer room rather than up here in The Tower because I don't have a spare cable long enough to trail down to the router. (Yes, yes, we could go wireless, but that would involve expenditure we don't need to make).

This all means that I can't pretend to be a computing Rick Wakeman and plap along on two keyboards simultaneously - though that is probably a good thing on many levels, not least through my complete inability to type independently with individual hands (I can barely type on a single keyboard; two simultaneously is just begging for trouble). It would be nice to be able to run both machines on the internet up here, but I am still not over the sometimes-it-works-sometimes-it-doesn't attempts to branch the internet connection through a subsidiary router so that we could plumb in (as it were) ellefurtle's Mac for use up in The Tower.

It's not a big problem as I don't use the laptop that often, but it would be nice. It does mean that I get to use my PC-barbecue icon again, though.