Week of 23rd September, 2002

Last Week

Monday, 23rd September

Jane is at a meeting this morning, relating to the problems with her Dad. Subsequent to the stroke earlier this year, he is showing signs of early Alzheimers' Disease, and this meeting is to plan the future, as far as that is possible.

Since I didn't go - it's more for blood family than in-laws - I took a message for Jane while she was at the meeting. And just to be sure that the message got through, I sent a text message to her mobile 'phone. So what, I hear you mutter. Well, I did it from the computer keyboard - Nokia Data Suite talking to my Nokia 8210 via IRDA. And it worked... Seriously good software that Data Suite - recommended. Get it here, but remember it's 'phone specific, so get the version for your 'phone - Nokia only, of course.

Seti@Home WU count stands at 282 completed for credit, as of early this morning.


After getting the bits from Maplin on Saturday, I'll do a bit of network reconfiguration today. First, I'll fit the new power brick for the Netgear switch. Then the new 5 port Gigafast switch will go in, using the other new soap-on-a-rope power brick, followed by the slot card power interface for Celery, to power his graphic tablet.

Later:      That's all done, and it all works. There seems to be very little to say about the Gigafast switch - it works. It's unmanaged, but I don't need management capabilities in my network infrastructure (except for the router, of course, and I can manage that via a Java capable web browser) The power bricks are smaller than cigarette packets, and again just work. They are made by Sunpower Technology, and work. So does the power adaptor slotcard from Hama, which fits into a spare slot in a desktop machine and allows you to draw up to 2.2 amps DC out of the power supply. It's polarity switchable, and regulated, so you can get any usual lower voltage out of it. All good stuff, and recommended.

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Tuesday, 24th September

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Wednesday, 25th September

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Thursday, 26th September

Two busy days at work - full of line feeds, both tape-delayed and PasB. It's lucky the purchased programme workload is slowing down a bit, otherwise we couldn't kep up. That said, purchased series are coming in in dribs and drabs, 5 or 6 episodes at a time - and very late, rather than 3 months in advance, and 20 or more at a time. The word is that they haven't been paying licence fees until the last possible minute.... One of these days, we'll miss one, or more.

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Friday, 27th September

To Swansea today, to see my Mum. I'm trying to keep up a monthly visit schedule, even if only for a weekend, just to keep an eye on things.

The "panic button" alarm system installation is well in hand, and should be completed shortly - weeks (maybe even days) rather than months, which is good for the peace of mind. Mum is still under weight, but she doesn't seem to be losing any more, so that's good, even though her appetite shows no sign of returning.

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Saturday, 28th September

I took Mum and her friends out to lunch today, at a local pub restaurant, the "Linden Tree" in West Cross. I can recommend the minted lamb chops, served with chips, and the mixed grill is also good, although the steak portion was somewhat overdone for my taste. UKP25 for the four of us, including drinks.

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Sunday, 29th September

An easy trip back to London, ready for the family meeting about Jane's Dad - which turned out to be a good meal, with chat, at Simon and Ale's.

As far as Dad's problem is concerned, there's very little we can do, except keep a close eye on things, and help Jane's Mum as much as possible. Financially, we need to get Dad's signature on a so-called "Enduring Power of Attorney", which will allow us to manage his affairs when (not if) he can't do it himself.

This is a legal document, signed by the giver of the power, which allows nominated persons to  act in the giver's behalf. It has to be registered before it can be used - signature and registration can be separated by a period of time. The idea is that the giver sets up the "EPA" when he knows what he's doing, and then when he is no longer capable, the power is registered and comes into effect.

Other than that, all we can do is watch and wait.

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