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It's a love-hate sort of thing

In life the relationships we have with various things can colour the way we look at the world.

How many people out there have got up on a beautiful sunny morning and felt absolutely awful because of a fight with an intimate partner?

Or what about a day when it is fair bucketing down and about -3000C and yet the patterns of sleet on the windows remind you of your lover's face and you get a warm inside glow?

Well I had a little break up with a loved one yesterday and I can say with certainty that it coloured my world - blue.

In fact nearby residents at the Heaven's Close Old Folks' Home were shocked by the profanity being used in my room when my little bust-up occurred.

What happened? Well, it's almost too painful to mention ... but here goes.

I got home mid-afternoon all hyped-up and ready to party. In my room was my love and I couldn't help myself but immediately turned her on.

What happened next was the stuff of nightmares. Her screen went blank and the operating system (Windows, I'll confess) just gave up the ghost. There was a whirr or two, about three-quarters of the Windows I'm starting-up theme and then ... nothing.

A quick reboot - same thing. Try starting in safe mode - nix. Hmmmmm.

Okay hop under the desk, fiddle with a few connections, wiggle a wire or two, bump my head on one of the legs and - oh, that's where that chewing gum got to - then final resignation to the fact that my love was in very serious trouble.

I don't know what Matron thought when she came in to see what the matter was but all she saw was this daft old bugger sobbing, wailing and cradling his beloved computer.

After a bit of a chat and a cup of tea, I got myself together, unplugged everything and zoomed off at high speed to the local PC chappie.

He did everything. Tested the hard drive - fine. Tested for viruses - not a problem. Looked at the humidifiercorrectional balance thingo - perfect. And he rated the little thing that goes beep A1.

So what's the problem PC Doc?

"Hmmmmm ... I reckon Windows just carked it. You'll need to do a reinstall."

Those words both cheered and chilled me. Phew, my downloads of Naughty Grans in Petticoats vol 9 hadn't been virus infected, but now I had to go through the hassles of updating all those blasted drivers and updates.

And if you have ever gone through that sort of process it is both time consuming and frustrating.

Still, my beloved is now back up and running and while not purring along in quite the same way, thoughts of her survival bring a joyous tear to my myopic eyes.

I couldn't say what the weather was like yesterday afternoon, but now everything is fine.

If there is something that has really got up your nose, let Grumpy Old Coot know at grumpy@webwombat.com