I got up at around 9am this morning, it was hot.

I tried to get my dodgy computer going. it kept locking up. Hmm. no point buying a dvdr drive if this computer is stuffed. I pulled the extra memory out, and played with the timing settings, eventually got it to not lockup all the time.

The guy I was going to start the ISP with called me, he wanted to know if I was going to the computer fair, he wanted a hard drive, and to give me some of the money he owed me.

I had been planning to go, I wanted a dvdr drive, but I didn't have any money, if he wanted to give me some, great.

I grabbed my bag, jumped on the bike, headed around to the fair. They had some stupid fishing show on, so the computer fair was shoved in some crappy shed down the back.

There was a big line to get in, half the people were there for the fishing show, and it wasn't until they got inside that they complained that was what they wanted. How dumb, it only says things like "computer fair this way" and "computer fair" about 400 times all over the front and the doors, while the stupid fishing show had a big sign and entry a distance away. Typical dumb people.

I got in, it was a nightmare, too many people, not enough space, and it stank. I went around once, as quickly as I could, with stupid people going the wrong way around the fair. I called my mate to find out if he was there, found him. Chatted for a few minutes, talked about the drive he should get, he gave me some of the money I lent him previously.

We went back in, and looked for a drive, almost all the 120gb 8mb buffer ATA Maxtor drives were gone, and the fair had only been open 1/2 hour. We nearly settled for a 2mb buffer (I would have), but decided to keep looking.

I went to a stall, where the guy had the dvdr I drive I wanted, at the cheapest price I had seen ($208) so I grabbed one. I noticed this guy had the 120gb disk, a little bit more expensive, we haggled, he wouldn't change the price.

We went around again, went back to where the 2mb buffer disk was, it was gone, so now we had 2 choices, pay the extra, or get no disk (getting a different brand is not a choice, Maxtor are the only disks worth buying). We went back and my mate paid the extra for the disk. I now wanted some blank dvds. Found Ricoh DVD+Rs for $2.60 each, so I bought 10.

My mate left, he'd got a lift with his next door neighbour that wanted to go, I told him I would pop in and see him a bit later.

I left not long after, I couldn't stand the heat/squash/stink anymore. I went and got some McDonalds for breakfast, since I still have no food at home. I sat and read the paper, nothing in it about the crash. I got some fuel at the servo nearby, and came home.

It was now about 11.30am. I had to go and see my mate like I had just told him, and then be at my mate that I went to the funeral with's place for lunch at 1.30. I sat and checked my email for a minute, my mate (I'd just seen at the fair) rang me again, wanted to ask about putting his disk in, mentioned the aircon was on, so I decided to go and talk to him, rather than melting at home.

I was there a few minutes later, helped him put the disk in properly, and then attempted to set it up, realised that XP would shit itself if we tried to swap partitions/letters etc. He decided to reinstall everything. I went through the theory of the best way to set it up, and then realised that it was 1pm and I had to leave. I chatted to him and his wife for a few minutes, about the funeral etc, and then I left.

I raced up to my mate (who I went to the funeral with)'s place, I was running late, so I went up the freeway, and then I took a bypass around into Wyong. I went along the road, and past the paddock, where the crash was. I didn't pay much attention though, or spend too much time thinking about it. I just kept going.

I got to my mate's place, about 1.35, we had lunch, I helped him put his new coffee table together, and then we started talking about the shop/business, and things that need to be sorted/done. The server that failed was still down, people were starting to complain. Email was apparently working though.. then it clicked, when I fiddled with the firewall rules last night, I fixed a different server that works as a backup mail server. My mate with the new hard drive called me a few times, to ask me bits about setting up the new drive.

We rang my friend's defacto, to find out about getting the keys to where the server is. She said we could come up in a bit to get them. My mate with the new disk called again, he wanted to know if I wanted to go to a movie with him. I would have, but I remembered I had told my adsl mate I would go there tonight.

We left a bit later, about 3.30, and headed to her place.

That was quite difficult, it was where my friend lived. His car was parked outside, it had been cleaned out though, and the number plates removed. We went inside.

My friend's defacto was on the phone, we spoke to her daughter (who does the tech support) we looked at some bills that had come in, tried to work out what they were. My friend's defacto finished on the phone, we chatted to her, she offered me a beer, I accepted, and drank one of my friend's Heinekins. She offered my mate a drink, but thought that he'd probably prefer a cup of tea, and a lamington, I found this particularly humerous, he's not that old.

We spoke for a while, we went outside to get the keys, she gave me all the non car keys. The number plates off the car were on the table, apparently they are going to send the car to the wreckers. We went and looked in the shed, it's attrocious, equipment and junk everywhere. I offered to help her sort it out.

We chatted outside for a while, then went back in.

For a few hours, we talked about what we wanted to do with the business, ways to sort things out, make it more profitable, and easier for us to run. If we are able to find a way to keep running the business, ie we get legal ability to do that, then with some work, I think we can make a go of it. While we were there, the tech guy we'd met the day before rang, and claimed that the server was fixed. Somehow I don't think so, he doesn't have access to the server (or does he) and I was pretty sure he thought it was fixed because he was getting mail.. just because I fixed the firewall at 1.30am this morning.

My mate got a call, at was his wife, she had made dinner, all the guests they have staying there at the moment had arrived back from sight seeing, and they were waiting so they could eat. We realised it was 6.25pm. It was now a week since the crash. I was glad I was there at that time, to think that we were all together, and pretty happy at that time, since we talked about some of the things my friend had got up to, and all the trouble he'd left for us.

We left my friend's place, I nearly left the keys, thinking the server was fixed, but then I decided to hang on to them, just so I could check for myself, and that it wasn't just confusion. I've got to be in the Cafe at 11am for a meeting with the solicitor, and at the Gosford pop at 2pm to sort things out with the office where our equipment is.

We got back to the house. I decided I would leave to visit my adsl mate like I had told him the night before. I was putting my bag on my bike, my mate came out, he told me that I was supposed to stay for dinner. I didn't think they would have catered for me, but they had, and because my mate's wife is Chinese, and all the visitors Chinese, it would have been disrespectful for me to have left, so I sat and had dinner with them, authentic Chinese food, and it was pretty good, I didn't expect it to be, since I know all commerical Chinese food is made for western taste, but the authentic stuff was actually nicer I thought, (except for the jellyfish, I was too fussed with that :-)

It was a bit strange drinking a VB while eating Chinese food I must admit (but then, it's strange for me to be drinking a VB).

They told me that my chopstick technique was good too, surprising, since I've only used them a handful (no pun intended) of times, and really don't have any skill.

I went outside, and I called my mate that owns the aircon business, to let him know that would not be available to work on Monday, had a quick chat to him.

After that, I helped to clean up, and then the watermelon was served, I had a bit of that, chatted with the Chinese people there, (that spoke English), and then I left.

I travelled back to my adsl mate's place, he was cleaning some stuff out, and gave me some documents related to joining the police force, since I mentioned I had been thinking about it. He also gave me back a book I lent to him in about 1999.

He told me not to worry about fixing up the computer, he'd sort that out later. Offered that I could have a game on his machine again, but I'm not interested in games, I'm too unco to play any of the games these days, and they don't have any playability, just flashy graphics.

I left there, went to the supermarket, bought some cereal and (soy) milk so I can have breakfast for the first time in about a week. Not that I've been able to eat first thing in the morning much this week, or much during the day.

I also got some Coke, and bread, so I could have a drink tonight, and maybe toast in the morning if I can't handle the cereal.

I came home, checked my emails, luckily not much has come in in the last few hours, and then decided to write the last 3 days worth of blogs, before my brain starts overloading and I forget things.

It has been a very long week. It has been a very hard week.

I am going in to Gosford to try to fix the broken server tomorrow morning (it turns out that it is still broken), now that I have the keys (I think I can remember the alarm code, I hope they haven't changed it), and then I am going to the beach. I am going to lye on the beach all day, listen to my mp3 player, and turn my phone off.

After that, I will go to the beer garden, and get a Heinekin, and drink in honour of my friend.