Because I was ill with the Winter Virus, I had time on my hands while I stayed at home to stop the spread of the bug.

So I did some maintenance work on my NetBook, "hawking". I backed up files to USB memory sticks and to an external hard disc. Wiped entire hard disc, installing Ubuntu 12.10 on top of it. There are a few different things but I'm getting used to it. Strangely hawking seems a bit quicker as well.

Washing machine replaced. Luxury :)

Looking at running some Traveller games at a local Gaming Club.

I do like to use Ubuntu Linux. To help Canonical on, I have bought stuff from their website's shop in the past. Last weekend I bought some bits and pieces from their shop. Hope the money is put to good use.

Bought “Abbey Road Sessions” on CD by Kylie Minogue. Very nice.

Been to a Hearing Voices Groups Meeting in Hexham. Nice to have a change of scenery.

Got a cleaner in. Makes a big difference. Also got an Argos storage unit assembled. Thanks :)

Back to proper activities – installing the latest Ubuntu Linux on surplus PCs :)

Bad news - Washing machine problems!
Good news - Finally got an Internet link in the I.T. room!

Upgraded the Dell 700MHz's laptop hard disc to 80GB. Am currently using it to read the Free Software Foundation's manuals. In particular I'm reading the Bash manual - https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/

Watched Hamlet last night – 3 hours! Amazing how many of Shakespeare's phrases have slipped into common use.

Am turning an old 700MHz Dell laptop at Contact into a Linux workstation – complete with Ubuntu and PDFs of articles ranging from software design, C++ 11, manuals for GNU software development tools and presentations from the ACCU 2012 conference (which I missed). Its only got a 9GB hard disc so I have to conserve hard disc space.

Finally got broadband and a land line! Am hoping to dabble with DSL - http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

Have finally moved to Morpeth - after 2 years and 5 months of trying! Walked into Contact for the first time. Luxury! Still emptying boxes and sorting things out.

Dad's funeral was on Thursday in York. Zoe read the eulogy. Paula read a poem. We met up with family & friends - and friends from Oman afterwards.

Rest In Peace.

Dad passed away on Saturday night after a long struggle with prostate cancer. He will be with our Mum, sister Katy and grandparents. Its just me and Paula now.

Dad is struggling with prostate cancer. B is looking after him. P (my sister) and I are coming to terms with this.

When it comes to running Traveller games, I'm reasonably OK. I can more or less handle the rules and can ad lib where necessary. For some time I have been wanting to run role-playing games (RPGs) a little differently. Maybe a splash of character development. Or a different kind of plot. For the plot angle, I've read the Writer's Digest Books printing of Ronald B. Tobias' “20 Master Plots” and its very good. It seems to me that character and plot are linked. So before I can improve my Traveller games, we'll have to flesh out the Player Characters a bit more. I have read “45 master characters” and it's scary in parts.

Programming. I've got a direction set – master GNU make and gdb, understand the C++11 library and then study the source code in GoF's Design Patterns book. To support this studying, I bought two books – 1) The C++ Standard Library 2^nd Edition and 2) C++ Concurrency in Action. With the GNU Compiler Collection (including make, gdb, gcc) I think I've finally found a replacement for Watcom C/C++ - and its free!

PC has lent me a copy of the Good News Study Bible. It looks promising.

Getting stuff from Amazon UK. Got some USB memory sticks for staff to keep backup copies of their work. Got a replacement battery for my adopted Dell Laptop (750MHz Pentium III, 512MB RAM) but they sent the wrong battery. When things settle down I'll be back to my routine of answering phones will working my way through the book Learning Perl. Tomorrow I hope to buy a copy of Traveller Supplement 9: Campaign Guide.

At the moment I have just started recover from another splitting headache. I am going to be receiving some new glasses soon and I hope that will cure the headaches.

Bought Traveller : Campaign Guide and received a replacement copy of Secrets of the Ancients. Am gradually winding things down so I can prepare for a new Traveller campaign.

Had a massive spring clean of my house – thank you, P and P. Took a spare desk to Contact – thank you PC.

From January...

Am trying to exercise regularly. I have found that after exercise I feel better. And it reduces the urge to eat chocolate.

Have just finished re-reading Steven Johnson's “Where Good Ideas Come From – The Seven Patterns of Innovation.