I hate computers

I sometimes wonder if it would have been better to have set sail in Petroc minus TV and computer!

Just over a week ago my computer decided to misbehave.  The short story is that it has involved 2 refreshes of the whole windows system (the first one didn`t work properly!) guided on the lengthy phone calls to PC World help desk.  I have always paid a monthly fee against my better judgement for this service......

This procedure wipes out all your programs BUT not all your data.  However putting all my programs back and more to the point getting them working is a task which is not for the faint hearted.

I am slowly getting there with the help of various other phone calls and with the help of my computer Guru, John (NB Epiphany)

Unfortunately the one that is defeating me at the moment is Microsoft Money which I have used for our personal finances for over 10 years and has a huge history.  I have managed to get the program back on successfully but it wont restore my data.   No chance of any help here as the program was discontinued in 2009 and support withdrawn in 2011.  I would happily go to a new program but that still loses all my historical data.  GrrrrrrrrH!!!

However life has not been all bad as I have had several visits to my grand daughter.  We continue to station hop to enable visits to be made.  After leaving Staines we had 3 nights at Shepperton lock which is close to Weybridge and 3 nights at the end of Desborough Island which is close to Walton on Thames.   Close to these places but not within my walking distance so taxi rides were called for.

Thankfully the heat has finally left us and we have had some good downpours of rain.  During that debilitating heat I did promise never to complain about the rain again........I must remember.   We moored here at Hampton Court in less than ideal conditions.   However thankfully the really heavy stuff saved itself for later.

Later on we were collected by friends Gavin & Celia and whisked off to their place for supper and in my case for a lovely long soak in their bath with a glass of Prosecco at my side.  All much appreciated after yet another afternoon wrestling with my computer.

Yesterday (Saturday) we had a visit from Kensa,
Dave and Emma and Kensa`s Granny Pat

We had an enjoyable few hours sitting on the terrace of the Mitre Hotel right by the river, followed by Kensa`s first visit to Petroc.  Barney showed very little interest in her, although he did manage a small welcoming lick eventually.

So here we are moored right outside Hampton Court Palace.  If we want to go in and visit it will cost us a cool £20 and that is  for old codgers........not sure I will bother, but Geoff is muttering that he might.

Total distance:5.43 miles Elapsed time:2h34m0s
Locks:2 Bridges:4 
Average speed:2.11 mph (2.89 lock/mph)