THE REST OF YOUR LIFE......
Sometimes life throws a load of crap at you, and things are not good. Then that situation changes and it's like the sun coming out. If you get the chance take a while to reflect on what happened, and crucially why it happened, and how you handled it, what you did to cope and to stay sane. Maybe you decide to change your life or lifestyle, maybe do that thing you always said you were going to do. 
 DO IT. NOW. DON'T GIVE UP, MAKE THAT CHANGE. 
 And then you will realise that the experience has made you stronger, better, more equipped for the future, which now looks brighter.
Remember this: EVERY tomorrow is the first day....

Linux Mint 13 aka Maya installed tonight, but had a problem with the CairoDock doofer falling over and hanging the PC, so I've uninstalled it.  I've tried Docky, but its not as good looking as Cairo, however it works OK, so thats what I have on the desktop right side to launch the essential apps i.e. Chrome, Firefox, and Banshee media player.   I also have ORACLE VIRTUALBOX installed, running a virtual WIN XP and it works OK if the PARALLELS HD option is selected.  Win XP install is to demonstre virtualization and the flexibility and power of this  Linux O.S.   Other than that LM13 is good, its ditched the alternate interface of LM10/11(?) & looks like a simple GUI operating system, reasonably fast in operation with 2Gb RAM installed, apart from booting up.
Host PC is a reconstituted Dell 5150, more ram, motherboard tweaked and fixed, hard drive swapped out with another spare 80Gb drive awaiting in the wings, and another DVDRW device installed.  I have also installed a wireless card and that works like a dream - Linux Mint picked the correct driver straight away and its cookin' !!
The Dell5150 was earmarked to replace the aging and noisy PHOENIX, which has given sterling service over the last 10 years or so.   The Linux PC can print to the Lexmark C543 colour laser, but I need cartridges to be replaced on it before we can print anything else.  However, an additional bonus is that last night I actually got "DELLBOY" speaking to the Samsung ML-1915 USB printer which is hanging off the back of the SYNOLOGY DS211j NAS device.  Next step is to configure Dellboy to mount the Synology shared folders and perhaps attempt an image backup to the Synology.

Ah well - rain stopped play.....  Last weekend was cancelled at the last minute on Friday night i.e. around 9:30pm, so we had to pack up and come up the road again on the Saturday.  Seems like the weather is going to dictate which events are "do-able" this summer - the Edinburgh event was also cancelled this weekend so it's fortunate that we didn't waste time and money attempting to cover that one also.  
The remaining events will hopefully be more successful, as I know a lot of the travelling vendors rely on the summer shows to make a margin of profit. 
Good Luck to them all.

Ah! there it is.....

Well Hello again !!    after yet another extended hiatus I am back on planet and preparing for a short "road trip".  Nothing to do with technology, more with obligation or my perception of it.   

I need luck, lots of it......