Pottering around

I’ve been busy in the past few days, beavering away at my next talk
for my U3A Computer Club. The talk is all about how to store / back
up your stuff … about the range of options available, including
burning a CD. I’ve spent most time on the latter, as there are
differences between various programs and also between Windows XP d
and Windows Vista.

I’ve had to learn how to use this programs (over the years) by trial
and error … a bit like feeling my way around a dark room, taking care
not to crash into anything. I suppose I could have gone and bought a
book on how to use a computer, but then I’m a tight bastard, as one
of my neighbours frequently says about me. I tend to get books out of
our local library, rather than buy them.

Last Friday, a couple of friends and I got together for a “jam session”
on our electric guitars ~ we meet up every 3-4 weeks and play through
(and sing along to) hits of the 50s and 60s. One of my pals is a
Bob Dylan devotee, so we play a lot of his songs ~ BD is known as
“His Bobness” in the folk clubs in Nottingham. We went to see him
“live” at the Nottingham Arena a few years ago, when he was on tour in
the UK. We were sitting on the second row from the stage, and the
atmosphere was electric. I was very impressed by his musicianship,
but not by his manner ~ he didn’t smile at all at the end of the show,
despite the huge applause he got from the audience. Perhaps he was
just having an “off” day.

I spent an hour or two later that day, helping someone (who lives
nearby) download photos from her camera. And I spent a few hours in
Derby on Saturday with my sister-in-law, K, sorting through several
years’ worth of photos and then showing her how to burn them onto
a CD. Formerly, she was a keen photographer with an SLR camera.
Currently she’s using a compact Canon digital camera which produces
images about 0.7MB in size ~ not top quality unfortunately.

Mrs C was away this weekend, meeting up with a group of friends in
York, so I had the house to myself. So I just spent today mainly on
the computers, polishing up my talk (Powerpoint), and having a look
at some photography and Photoshop sites.

I invite you to have a look at the brilliant video-tutorials on
this site ..

http://www.photoanswers.co.uk/Video-Tutorials/

This evening, we had kippers with Julienne potatoes and a selection
of steamed green veg and carrots, which I cooked in time for
Mrs C’s arrival home. We had this together with some lovely chilled
wine ~ the Wine Society’s Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. Delicious.

The Julienne potato recipe we use is dead easy (I think we might
have got it from Delia Smith originally).

For 2 people, cut 2-3 potatoes into thin strips (smaller than
chips but slightly bigger than French Fries). Pat dry with a tea
towel. Put a small amount of sunflower oil into a small frying
pan, and turn on the heat. (Mrs C sometimes adds a small amount
of butter too).

When the oil is hot (but not smoking), add the potato, season
with a little salt and freshly ground pepper, and add 2 cloves
of garlic finely chopped (that’s my variation).

Cover the frying pan with a Pyrex-type glass plate (to almost
seal the top of the pan, and weight it down with some heavy
weights (eg several heavy mixing bowls) to compress the potato.
Cook on a fairly low heat for about 20 mins or so (longer if
cooking larger quantities). Check for how well cooked the potato
is before serving. Ideally the base of the potato layer should
be a medium brown/golden colour, and be crisp.

Easy-peasy.