all fixed and running

My long period of silence between the 19th and today is not without a reason. A couple of weeks ago my pal the laptop died a swift and painless death. Try as I might I was unable to resurrect it. It was one of those odd situations where after accepting another Windows update, I restarted the computer just to find out that it would not start. I could now go into a long and detailed series of complaints against Microsoft, Windows and PC’s in general, but I’m afraid to open that can of worms. All I can say is that this incident once again has reconfirmed my love for the Mac. That said, I’ll go on with the story. I was left with a dead laptop on my lap (No pun intended!) and no idea where to turn for help. I began by calling all my relations and I guess it should not surprise me that I ended up finding four professional “computer dudes” within my direct circle of family and friends. The first happened to get his thumb cut off by a table saw shortly before I could summon his help. The second, as it turned out, had just won gold medal in yacht racing, in his age group, in Latvia and had decided to skip the country and go on a long holiday (Probably blowing his prize money!). The third was climbing Kilimanjaro and was due back no sooner than September (His friend sighed into the receiver and added: “as long as he’s still alive, come September”). No, I’m not making any of this up. Really! That’s the craziest part. It could be explained by the size of this country or maybe all the people I know are a little “out there”. The last of the four was sick with the flu, but willing and able to take in my dead lap top regardless, and promised to do it at home so that I could save a few extra bucks. Yeah, it turns out that fixing this lap top through a known and reputable company in Latvia could have cost me nearly as much as buying a used one on e-bay. Go figure!

Well, after I finally got a hold of the fourth computer dude the laptop got fixed in a matter of a week or so. However, I did lose a whole stack of pictures and files in the process. It was a good lesson, a good slap on the wrist so to speak… I have begun making regular and careful back-ups now. It turns out that viruses can hide even amongst things like Windows updates and having the latest Norton (Including all latest security updates) does not necessarily mean you’re safe. I hate it!

But I love having my lap top back! :-)

Since the last blog post Stella has sprouted her second tooth on the bottom. It announced itself only a couple of days after the first. She’s also beginning to shuffle across the floor on her belly and occasionally even lifts her but up in the air in a crawling position. Oh, and she began to sit on her own just last week. Kaspar is slowly forgetting how to speak English and learning more and more current Latvian slang from his senior cousins and friends, some of which is not really approved by me. So, we occasionally have some serious stand offs regarding the appropriate use of language. I never thought that I’d be having these sorts of problems before the age of three! C’est la vie!

I’m sure there are a few other things I could mention, but I’ll leave some of it for the next blog post. I’m tired and the Song and Dance Festival starts tomorrow. I need to catch up on some sleep before the coming week of busy festivities and late nights.