So much for an early night, I went to bed about 10.30pm, but just ended up tossing and turning until after 2am trying to get to sleep.

I got up at 8.40am, had a shower, ate what food there was left. I bummed around for a little while, and didn't end up leaving until about 9.20am, and I was supposed to be there about 10am, shouldn't be too late.

I got there about 10.15am.

I had a look around, shouldn't be too much work, run some network cables, put in a switch, sort out the tangle of phone cables running everywhere.

I made some measurements, worked out the parts I needed.

I suggested they get an ADSL connection, since they don't have enough telephone lines, and instead of paying installation/rental/calls on another line, they may as well get a cheap ADSL connection.

They seemed interested in that, so I gave them all the details.

The machine I fixed for them recently was there, it has files on it they need to access, but office doesn't work, because it hasn't been reinstalled after I reinstalled Windows. They had the CD, but Office 2003 was complaining that they need Service Pack 3 on the machine. Argh. I said I would download it at home, burn it on a CD, at they could sort it out themselves, I'm not sitting here all day waiting for sp3 to download over a modem connection.

Until they, I showed them how they could just copy the files on to floppy, move them to a different pc.

She then wanted to look at the files on the laptop, that doesn't have a floppy drive. Hmm, they had a USB memory key though, so that was no problem.

I had called my mate to get the phone number of the guy to get the ADSL through, he called me back with it, and then he called me back a few minutes later, and asked me to get some PC parts for him on the way home, that was fine, and he gave me the address. Good, I can get the parts I need for here while I am there.

I finished making up my documentation of things I'll need to do, gave them the phone number, and I left, it was just before midday I think.

I checked the street directory

I went to the service station, because of dumb road planning, instead of being able to ride the 5 metres or so from the car park into the service station, I had to go all the way down the road, round the corner, turn around at a roundabout, come all the way back, about 500m.

I got fuel, took off, got back on the freeway, got off at the exit to go to the computer place.

I headed in near where it was, unit 11 number 10 my mate told me. I found number 10, it was a hot air balloon place.

Hmm. I asked a guy making the side of a basket if he knew where the computer place was, he said he didn't but that the people in the office might.

I went in, asked if they knew where the place was. They didn't.

The nice woman looked in the phone book, couldn't find them. She called directory assistance, and they were able to find a listing, gave her the number, so she called them, found out the address, and told me. They were at unit 10 number 1 apparently.

I thanked them, and took off, went back down the road, found them.

I went in, ordered all the bits I needed, and paid. The guy asked if I was the guy who'd gone to the other place looking for them.

I went around the back to collect them, a few minutes later they came out with the box, I checked it, everything was there, signed off. I looked at the receipt, wow, everything is so cheap, and it's not all totally crap either.

I strapped the box onto my bike, headed back, got on the freeway, and came home.

I dumped all the stuff, and sat down for a minute.

My phone rang, it was the woman who's network I look after. Apparently the Sydney service of the isp I was helping with until I got screwed over, is down, and has been all day. Hah. She wanted to know about getting the dialin number changed, to the Gosford service. Because the number is set in the linux firewall I setup for her, she can't change it herself. I said I would have to come up to change it.

She told me not to worry about it, because she had been told the service would be fixed shortly. I told her to let me know if it wasn't in the next couple of hours, and I would come and change the number.

Maybe it's not so bad they cut off my account, and forced me to use my other isp, it seems like they are having no end of problems anyway. Oh well, what can you do, you just can't help some people.

I grabbed my bag, and went to the shops, I need to buy some food. It's about 2.15pm, I can beat the school getting out.

I got there, got everything I needed, queued up.

Someone came up behind me, the person I was waiting behind told them that the next register had just opened (before I got there) and they went over and started unloading. Far out. I'm just waiting here for fun you know. But I couldn't be bothered causing an argument in the middle of the supermarket, so I just waited, in the line I was already in, as the woman in front took forever to finish being served.

I finally got my stuff going through, why do the checkout operators talk to you? they don't care about me, or my day, just as I don't about them. "How are you?" what are you supposed to answer to that? The woman scanning my frozen food isn't going to care that I'm a bit upset, because after my friend dies, and I spend 9 weeks running his business, just to keep it going, the people that take over ownership treat me like crap, exploit me, and then spread false rumours to try to tarnish my reputation, for god only knows what reason.

Finally, the food is all scanned, it's a few dollars more than I have in cash, so I'll use my card. My new card, that I got a few days ago, and haven't got around to signing yet.

I scan it, and then decide that I will need to sign it. I sign it. The chekout woman sees that the card is not signed, and that I then sign it.

She passes me the slip to sign, I sign it. Then, something I cannot believe, she takes the slip, and my card, and compares the signatures very carefully. Gee, what a surprise, they are the same, I wonder why, since she just saw me sign the card, and then 2 seconds later sign the slip.

I collected all my food, headed back out to my bike. I loaded it all in, went back in, bought some bread rolls for lunch.

Uh oh, what time is it. I headed back towards home, because there is road works, the entrance to the area that would have been a lot easier to use, is closed. I head for the other one, where all the Mum's taxis and 400 busses are going to come out.

Wow, there's a guy there with a stop sign directing traffic, someone was smart enough to think of that.

I get there just as he takes it away, so all the main road traffic that has been banked up starts going. Great.

I sat and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally he stopped the traffic again, and I was able to get across, and come home.

I was just starting to write this blog, when my phone rang, "Private Number". I hate these calls, I like to know who's calling, and what to expect. I answered it, it was a guy, I didn't recognise the voice, he told me he'd got my name and number from the oztivo mailing list, ah, cool.

I chatted to the guy for a few minutes, he told me he had a very similar VCR to mine, and wanted a bit of help with the IR codes.

I gave him the URL of the howto I wrote on setting up IR, and said I would send him the tcl file with the codes. That was pretty cool.