why you shouldn't drink alone...

(at least keep a computer engineer to hand)

The problem with the internet, and with having broadband access after years of Orange Fr's snail-paced dial-up connection which, interestingly, only ever successfully connected my French laptop at 4am, for some unknown reason, the problem with broadband is that it is SO distracting

I can now not only connect whenever I wish to the world of cyberspace but I can also, and here's the rub, watch TV on my Sony VAIO

So, yesterday, as I was trying to gather sufficient coherent thoughts and correct French phrases to compile a reasonable intelligent response to the question posed by my latest French assignment, I was also watching an episode of Dr Who

I know, you don't need to tell me, I am BAD

Anyway, it was early evening and I was sipping a glass of white wine (not fizzy, that reminds me too painfully of Himself) as I was watching said episode of Dr Who and trying to decide whether to use the subjunctive to be showy or whether to play safe and remain in the plain present tense when, to my surprise and horror, a dalek appeared!


Oh My God!

I first met the daleks when Dr Who was new to our black and white TV screens
Back in the previous century, round about the time that Kennedy was shot
I am THAT old



At that time, being a very imaginative little seven year old girl, I was terrified of the daleks.
Terrified, but as fascinated as a rabbit caught in a car's headlamps
I watched Dr Who every Saturday afternoon from my hiding place behind the sofa
and I had nightmares every Saturday night

My parents assured me that there were men inside those daleks
men just like Daddy
and then there was an episode in which the Doctor captured a dalek and opened it up and inside it there was a Thing, slimy and reptilian and terrifying
and not at all like Daddy!
I have never recovered from that shock

So when I decided that a full ten minutes of concentrated French had earned me a thirty minutes break with Dr Who and clicked on Play and heard that dreadful voice say "Exterminate" I was so shocked I knocked my glass of wine over my keyboard

White wine + computer keyboard = Disaster

Especially when it's a fancy, shmancy wireless Sony VAIO keyboard

For several hours it was dead
I removed as many of the keys as I dared and cleaned as much as I could
I put in new batteries
Finally, this morning I was able to logon
Though the CTRL key is still dead

The moral of this tale?
Do not drink at the keyboard
Do not watch Dr Who alone
Do not waste time on TV when you should be working

I wonder when the next episode is available?