Haemochromatosis and The Shed

It always amazes me just how a simple thing can spark off a reaction that on the face of it is out of all proportion. Let me explain.

One of my sister’s boys, went for a routine blood test for a minor operation. The test showed that his blood iron level was way above normal. His local hospital in the small town where he lives hasn’t got the facilities to deal with this so he was sent to the large district hospital, in the nearby city. There he was screened for a condition called haemochromatosis
(read about it here http://www.haemochromatosis.org.uk/home.html).

Haemochromatosis is a genetic condition which is passed on by one or two faulty genes. The problem is that it isn't just a matter of too much iron in the blood. Having the iron at these dangerous levels can lead to arthritis, diabetes, liver problems included cirrhosis and cancer, impotence and adrenal problems. So you see, this is not something that can be safely ignored.

The genes can be passed on down either the male or female line and depending how many of the genes you have (you can be carrying one or two), your children may inherit these genes from you. This means that they too can develop this condition especially if your partner also has one or more of these genes (apparently one in 200 of the population have at least one of these genes). This makes it imperative that all members of the family of a patient with this condition should be screened. This is where we, as a family, are at the moment.

Looking just at my siblings, children and grandchildren, it adds up to my three siblings and myself, 7 nieces and nephews, my four children and their partners and nine grandchildren
(26 people all told), all of whom need to be screened if my sister’s boy tests as positive for the condition. As you can imagine, we are all somewhat nervous at the moment.

I didn't realise just how seriously this condition is taken by the medical establishment. It was only when I mentioned my nephew to my consultant’s secretary and got an immediate response from my consultant that I realised that this condition was not something that could be taken lightly. At the moment, we are all hoping that this is a false alarm or that it can be proved that my sister's boy contracted this from a blood transfusion, which is the only other way of getting this condition. I know it wouldn't be nice for him, if it did come from a blood transfusion, but it would mean that the rest of us are in the clear.

A few days ago, while the snow was on the ground, my better half came in from the shed where our freezer lives and told me it was leaking like a sieve. This shed is getting on for twenty years old so it has served us very well indeed. I am no longer capable of crawling about on a shed roof adding a new covering of roofing felt and I don’t want Jackie up there with her eyesight problems so it looked as if the time has come to get a new shed. In olden days it would mean getting out the phone book and ringing round for quotes. In these days of the internet, all that is needed is to open your internet browser go to something like Google and type in sheds from the UK. That got me 2.7 million hits and I was thoroughly confused by the sheer choice of sizes and styles available. I went to B&Q for a few bits for another small project and spotted a plastic shed on display. Now I had never thought about a plastic shed even though I had heard of them. One thing struck me right away was that the shed was a lot sturdier than I had imagined. Then another penny dropped – it didn’t need treating every year either. In fact it didn’t need any painting or maintenance at all other than hosing down to get the grime off it occasionally. Now this made it very attractive to me because as we are getting older Jackie and I are finding it difficult to maintain outdoor things properly.

When I got home I repeated the search on Google this time for plastic sheds UK. That cut the hits to 101K hits – much better. As I read the adverts it quickly became obvious that there are only a few manufacturers that make and sell plastic sheds in the UK so weeding them out to eliminate the very expensive workshop type sheds that we didn’t need brought the choice down to one of three models. We chose a Duramax Duramate 8'x8' Plastic Garden Storage Shed which would fit where the present shed stands. The web site offering the shed said delivery was around 4 weeks which would give us plenty of time to empty the old shed, pull it down and get rid of it so I ordered it. Two days later the phone rang and a young lady asked if we could take delivery of the new shed on Monday, four days away !!!! Panic Stations.

I needn't have worried, within two days the freezer was moved to the workshop on a temporary basis, the garden tools were stuffed in the junk shed and the old shed was empty. We stripped out the electrics and our Alarm Technician (http://www.anchorsecurityalarms.co.uk/) came and dismantled that part of our alarm system.

On the morning we had set aside to start dismantling the shed the phone went and a friend asked if I was up for a bit of barter. She knew that we were going to have a go at dismantling the shed that morning and we would struggle with it. Her computer was feeling poorly and her idea was that her husband Alan, a retired builder, would come and help to dismantle the shed and I would have a look at her computer. Within half an hour Alan had arrived and the shed was beginning to disappear. By lunch time the shed was in bits and piled up ready for burning and Jackie was digging out our pressure washer to clean the concrete pad that the shed had sat on. Thanks Alan you did a great job in a fraction of the time we would have taken.

The state of play at the moment is that the pad is marked out ready to drill the holes for the hold down bolts and the shed base is partially assembled ready to bolt down. However, mother nature has stepped in with a temperature of minus 2° so it is cold stopped play until the temperature rises somewhat.

Why have I told you all this?
Simply to illustrate how easy it is to research and then shop on line for almost anything these days. Gone are the days when you had to spend hours on the phone at enormous cost trying to locate that elusive part. Now Google or eBay can find it in very few minutes and for very little more can have whatever you need delivered to your door.

It got me at last + The Dragon

I was in bed with flu like symptoms all over Christmas and by the new year I couldn’t breath so it was time to call the Dr in. He arrived saying he wondered how long it would be before I called him in so I guess our area is well infected with whatever infection it is. The end result is that I am full to the brim with antibiotic and steroid so bang goes my after Christmas diet as I am now eating anything not screwed down which is the usual result of taking steroids. My blood sugars are running in the high teens too despite the increase in meds before Christmas so all in all it is a step backwards.

Being stuck in the house over the holiday has allowed me to start to play with voice recognition software. I first tried the voice recognition software built-in to Windows 7. I was able to set up my hardware microphone and headset without any problems. The tutorial was easy to understand and I thought that the training of the software to recognise my voice went just fine that is until I try to enter text into MS Word. All I got was gobbledegook. I went 8 and tried the training and again with roughly the same result. From there I went along to the forums to see what results other people had got. It seemed to be a mixed bag. There were a higher percentage of female users who reported good results. My voice is soft and deep and has a Yorkshire accent. I suspect that the Microsoft software couldn't cope with this. So having an old copy of Dragon Naturally Speaking in my software library and I decided to load it and give it a try.

It was easy to load, not too difficult to configure but training it to recognise my voice was a very different matter. You are offered a selection of scripts to read, I chose John F Kennedy's inaugural address. I think if I had read it before, and I might not have chosen it because it contains many policiballic words. It took about 20 minutes to read all the address but once I had and had identified the language I wish to use (English UK) I've found that it now makes very few dictation mistakes. The help files tell me that the more I use it the more accurate it will become will become. I have used it to write this blog and with one or two words that were not recognised by the editor so please excuse the few spelling mistakes, I think that a first attempt it isn't bad.

The test will come when I try to use it to write a chapter for the book I am writing for my college course. Watch this space to see how I get on.

Swine Flu

We live on the edge of a moderately large Council Estate which has an Infant and Junior School with the Senior School just down the main road . We have had Swine Flu here almost from the time it began to spread around in England. The Local GP Practice did the ‘normal’ flu vaccinations back in October but only got going with Swine Flu vaccinations about 3 weeks ago.

According to our GP there have been a few mild reactions to the vaccine but nothing worth bothering about. According to the local gossips nearly everyone who has had it has been seriously ill. Guess who is being believed? The result – the people who really need it are terrified to have it. I know a family of three people all of retiring age or older. All have medical or physical problems and all would be seriously ill if they got swine flu. Two are adamant they are not having the vaccine because according to what they have heard, it is dangerous or makes you ill. The third who again really needs the vaccine can’t make up their mind about what to do for the best.

What is the root of this problem – missing or ambiguous information. Unless you are a seasoned web surfer (these three are not) the unambiguous information is hard to find because what there is is written in either Medical or Civil Service speak which is a long way from the language used by my three examples. The images that accompany reports on the news are also misleading. The one showing a Nurse preparing a multi dose bottle has convinced a lot of people that the injection is huge (they don’t know about multi dose) and dangerous (they haven’t seen one being prepared or explained on Holby City, their source of medical information) because if the two substances have to be kept apart until just before they are injected they must be dangerous. In fact the second substance is distilled water for injection that is added to the bottle to activate the vaccine just prior to injection.

These irrational fears could have been killed at source if the leaflets that were sent around and can be found in surgery waiting rooms explained EXACTLY and simply how the injections are stored, prepared and given. Likewise some simple feedback about how people were reacting to the vaccination would have allayed fears about reactions and being dangerous.

My wife and I have both had the vaccinations. I had a mildly sore arm for about three days. My wife, who had a cold when she was vaccinated, had the cold for the usual seven days. Nothing to worry about there. A severely disabled child near us had a fit some days after being vaccinated. his carer has being telling anyone who will listen that it was caused by the vaccination. This has not been confirmed by either the GP or the hospital he was taken to. The hospital released him after a night’s observation so it is safe to assume they weren’t worried. His carer has kept him off school since the fit – another example of the fear that is gripping this neighbourhood.

Being disabled myself and having several medical problems I am grateful that I was given the vaccine as soon as it was available. I am firmly convinced that if I got it I would struggle to fight it off because the information that is available points to people with underlying medical conditions similar to mine do have problems if they get Swine Flu. I don’t have any answers to the problem of how to get through to people driven by gossip or fear except to make sure that real information is easily available, accurate, easy to understand and unambiguous.

Oooooops

It’s late and you’re struggling to stay awake at your computer, so you decide to make yourself a cup of coffee. A few more hours of work ahead and the coffee will perk you up. Then, oops, there it is, all over your laptop, ruining your evening. The coffee has drained into the machine. The damage could be irreparable.

And worse: you may actually be in danger of being electrocuted. Since data travels between the laptop’s components via an electrical current, if any liquid comes into contact with the components while the power is on, it will short out the traces between the circuits. Everything can be affected — keyboard, motherboard, memory and processor.

So what should you do if the worst happens?
Don’t panic. By acting promptly, you can usually prevent significant damage. If your laptop is running on battery power and isn’t connected to an AC outlet, quickly press the power button to shut the machine down. Then remove the battery.

If the machine is connected to the mains, unplug it.

Important:
you must do this immediately once the spill has occurred. If the power is removed quickly enough, the electronics inside will be undamaged. Then remove the battery.

Now you aren’t in any immediate danger, so you can start clearing up the mess. Blot up as much liquid as you can with a soft cloth. Next, remove all cables, USB components, cards and any other external devices. Tilt the laptop gently from side to side to drain it (without madly shaking it around) and place it upside down so the liquid can drain out. Removing the outer casing might affect your warranty; if you choose to do so, don’t touch the circuitry inside.

Now all you can do is wait. Leave the laptop open so air can circulate, for at least 24 hours.

As long as your laptop hasn’t started to smoke or emitted any strange buzzing noises, it should now work normally, but it may look rather smeared and dirty.

Use a soft, damp cloth to clean the casing — nothing abrasive — or a special cleaning agent, one without any ammonia. Spray this onto the cloth, not directly onto the laptop. Cotton swabs are useful for cleaning around and between the keys.

If you want to clean the display, turn the laptop off first so can see the dirt more clearly. Use a soft cloth to wipe it, but never any paper products like tissues, as they can scratch the surface and leave behind lint that can get into the LCD. You can also buy special spray solutions for cleaning monitors.

By following these steps, you should be able to limit the damage. But of course, the best advice is the most boring: don’t drink while you work!

You may not use a laptop and this can also happen to a standard keyboard. If it does;

1. Don’t panic - Unplug the keyboard from the computer as quickly as possible.
2. Use your mouse to save your work and shut down the computer.
3. Take the flooded keyboard to the kitchen and using ordinary cold water, flush all the coffee/soft drink out of the keyboard under a running tap.
4. When you are sure you have got rid of all the spill, turn the key board upside down and let it drain for a few minutes.
5. When it has stopped dripping, put the keyboard on a radiator and leave it for 24 hours to completely dry out and you should then find it works perfectly again.
6. In the mean time, use your spare keyboard to keep working but plug it in BEFORE switching on the computer.

PS
This works for mice too

Direct Debits in 2009

I am in the process of changing banks. Part of the process is changing the direct debits I use to pay all my household bills, insurances, magazine subscriptions, utilities and all the hundred and one services that we need to pay for. I was struck rather forcibly by the different levels of security needed to change a direct debit (DD) from one account to another.

The banks are no problem at all. You can cancel the previous DD on line or by phone and setting one up is just a matter of logging in, type in the recipient, the sort code and the account number and it is up and running. Telephone companies are a very different kettle of fish. Their security is so strict that unless you have the password, a secret question, all your personal details and the phone/simm card serial number they won't even talk to you never mind change anything. I suppose it stops some lout pretending to be you and getting hold of your identity but it does make life difficult for us older people who can't remember 9 digit numbers easily.

Magazine companies, utilities, insurance companies, finance companies all again no problem at all. One phone call, account number, check ID, new bank account details, job done finish. Likewise Government agencies like pensions, ID check, new bank details, it will be up and working by the time the next payment is due.

Then we come to the Local Council. ID check, no problem. then they want to send out a new DD mandate for you to sign and send back. What's the problem? Cost. How much does it cost for a council employee to write a letter, print off and enclose a new mandate, send the letter through the internal post to the post room, use snail mail to get it to me (second class so could take up to a week) I then have to fill it all in and post it back. When it gets to the council it has to be processed through their mail system. Opened by an employee and the details checked then typed into the computer system and transmitted to my bank. I shudder to think what that all costs at £5 plus an hour. Why can't the same member of staff type the details straight into the computer system while you are on the phone. Job done time taken 2 mins maximum.

When I asked why it couldn't be done that way I was told they didn't have the software to do it and it would have to be bought in. When I asked why the same software couldn't be used that is used to type in changes from written mandates I was told that was different -, HOW? Are the details different? Is my account number any different? Do I live at a different address? Are the bank details different in some way? I think that this is a way of wasting money that you should bring to the attention of your local councillor. It is a small thing in itself but multiplied by all the changes people make to their personal and bank details it must add up to quite a considerable sum.

Well now I have this week's rant off my chest, the season of colds and flu are with us. My better half is barking like seal and spraying bugs over us every time she sneezes. Our friends all have colds, sore arms from the Swine Flu Vaccinations or in many cases both. Most of our friends are also rushing from shop to shop trying to get the Christmas shopping done and not forget all the hundred and one thing they must have to make the season a success. All our children have four feet and fur and all they bother about is that the food arrives on time and there is plenty of it. At this time of year we look at our bulging freezer, make sure the drinks cabinet is well stocked and we have a ready supply of cold remedies and look forward to everything being shut down till after New Year. I know a lot of our friends look forward to getting together with family at this time of year and in the past so have we but now we are old and knackered we instead look forward to a time of peace and quiet when everyone else is too busy to bother about misbehaving computers and websites that need tweaking. I know - Bah Humbug as a certain fictional character would say

Microsoft Office 2010 Beta

Today Microsoft released the Beta version of Office 2010. It is due to go on sale early next year but for now you can download a free version and run it alongside your present MS Office version. Bear in mind this is a Beta version so there will still be a few bugs in it but it is a good way to find out if you like the new programs and judge for yourself if you want to buy it when it is finally released commercially.

There are two versions a 32 bit and a 64 bit. If you have any version of MS Office installed you need the 32 bit version. If however you don’t run MS Office and you have 64 bit hardware and a 64 bit version of Windows then you can download and install the 64 bit version. So let’s get down to how you do it assuming you have Office already and are installing a 32 bit version.

1. Go to http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/default.aspx register and download the 32 bit version to your HDD.
2. Don’t forget to print the Product key page or you won’t be able to run Office when you have installed it.
3. If you use it, backup Outlook because you can only run one version of Outlook on any one computer. This isn’t strictly necessary because 2010 will import all your contacts, appointments and emails to the new version but applying murphy’s law (If it can go wrong it will) BACK IT UP.
4. In The programs folder on C: (Programs x86 if you are running a 64 bit version of Windows) make a new folder Microsoft Office 2010.
   You do this so that you can have two versions of Office on your computer at the same time, if you don’t 2010 will uninstall your present version of Office and replace it with 2010.
5. Navigate to where you saved the download from Microsoft
6. Click on the file ProfessionalPlus.exe
7. The computer will extract the compressed installation files.
8. The next window is the licence – accept it and click on next.
9. If you do not have Office on your computer click on install and accept the all defaults from here on in.
10. If you do have Office click on Custom.
11. On the Install Options window first choose the applications you want to install.
12. Click on the File Location tab and browse to the Microsoft Office 2010 folder you made in the Program Files (x86) folder.
13. Lastly fill in your details on the User Information tab then click on Install
14. Let the install run and don’t try to do anything on your computer till it has finished.

You now have Office 2010 on your computer. Now you need to activate it.

Open Word and follow the instructions on the Product Key page you printed to activate and register your installation like this:

1. Open Word and click on the File tab. Click on Help in the left pane.
2. Click ‘Change Product Key’ in the right pane.
3. Type in the key from the product key page you printed and check the box to activate automatically.
4. On the next window click install – I know this doesn’t make sense but please just do it. Word will connect to the Internet and activate the whole of Office.
5. Close and restart Word.

That’s it Office is installed and activated.

I have a 32 bit version of Office 2010 on my main desktop machine and a 64 bit version on my file server. On first impressions I like it a lot but watch this space I will use it for a while then come back here to share my likes and dislikes with you.

Windows 7 problems and a new task

Since my last post I have finished the rebuild of my network and helped one friend to reload his desktop computer with Windows 7. This time it didn't all go smoothly and we hit an error that, judging from the forums, is all too common. The error is that W7 refuses to activate over the Internet and will not run Windows Update. The error codes given are 80072EFE and 80072EE2. Microsoft are curiously silent on this one as they only have one page in the knowledge base that refers to this problem and frankly the advice given is tongue in cheek and doesn't work.

The forums are no better they suggest you do all sorts of things like deleting the catroot2 folder and switching various services on and off. I am not going to list them because I suspect that none of them are a sure fire way of fixing this problem - if you want to have a look for yourselves type 'Error 80072EFE Windows 7' into Google and start reading.

The root of the problem is that your connection to the Internet times out when you try to connect to the Microsoft update/activation servers. The problem is not at Microsoft's end it is on your local machine and I tracked it down on my friend's machine to the native Microsoft drivers for his Ethernet ports weren't the right ones. I went to the Motherboard makers website, found the W7 drivers then downloaded and installed them. Once I had done this I found that by using the built in Administrators Account, I could both activate and update his computer. I know this is only a partial cure but does give him a fully working machine. So come on Microsoft finger out let's have a proper solution.

Now that my network upgrade is all but finished (I am still waiting for my wife to decide about her laptop), I have, in theory at least, some time on my hands. I found out that our local college was offering a free (yes I did say free) Creative Writing course. I enjoy writing or this blog wouldn't exist so I thought it might be fun to go and hone my wordsmith skills and meet some new people at the same time.

We are now two weeks into the course and my free time has vanished. This may be a free course but it isn't just a time to go and have a good natter over coffee as some courses in FE are. The homework this week was to build a profile of the main character in a story you might write. Sounds easy, ten minutes work. It has taken me 9 x A4 pages and 4,155 words to complete the task. I did wonder about the grin on Sarah's face when she handed out the work sheets (Sarah is our tutor and an author in her own right under the pen name Charlotte Stein).

Today is college day and we have to hand in our assignments. Bearing in mind our class ranges in age from 19 to 82, some have reading difficulties and/or other disabilities and none of us have tried anything like this before, unless you count this blog and my website, it is going to be an interesting couple of hours to see how this diverse group have tackled the assignment.
The course has brought to the surface the idea for a story that has been floating around in my mind for some years. I am an avid reader of Science Fiction and have at one time or another read most of the output of the masters like Asimov, Heinlein, Dr EE Smith, HG Wells etc., so I know something about the worlds and time lines they created. I hope I haven't rehashed one of their themes but this is the idea on which my story is built.

Consider what might happen if it was revealed that for the last eleven thousand years a group of off world species had been observing and recording the people of Earth’s progress in the fields of science, religion, politics, education and health. What would the reaction of the world’s religious, political, scientific and academic leaders be to the knowledge we have not been alone throughout our climb from hunter gatherers to our present level of sophistication. Especially when the turning points in our history have not only been witnessed and recorded but that anyone with access to the Internet can now see exactly what happened.

I have a couple of chapters in draft form and will discuss them with Sarah if I get a chance. I am finding that this sort of writing is hard work and needs self discipline and organisation if you are to make any progress. I am hoping that by the end of the course in February I will have a better idea how to turn my thoughts and ideas into a readable book.