Ages ago, and I’m talking about *ages* ago, I played a borrowed copy of Tombraider, which I sat up for hours, days playing. I’m hopeless at computer games. They take me weeks and I usually have to download a cheat sheet to tell me what to do because I can’t figure it out on my own.

What made me gave up on Tombraider was an evil room where you had to do everything at once: jump accurately in different directions within a tight time limit. I kept either falling off into some sort of shark infested water, or still being in the wrong place at the wrong time and getting burnt alive.

I threw everything at that room, and never quite got through. How, I thought to myself, can I survive all those wild animals, even dinosaurs, for Pete’s sake, and get stumped by flames, sharks, and boxes at awkward angles. Now I’ve found Stella I know how to do it. And if I still can’t actually manage it, I could even download a ‘savegame’ to get me past it. Bless.

Still, that was years ago. I’ve long since lost my saved game, and my copy of Tombraider.

Now, thanks to the miracle of Amazon Shops, I have a new copy of Tombraider for under a pahnd.

I just fired it up. I can’t believe the graphics were that bad! It really must have been ages ago. I’ve been running around shooting things (an ex’s comment when we went to see the first Tombraider movie was something along the lines that hardly any bears, bats, wolves, lions, tigers or other protected species got unceremoniously shot dead. That and sarcastic comments about the backpack being full of rocks just to counterweigh the frontage) but otherwise not getting very far. Still in Caves II. Bah.

Two other things of note. First, I’m really glad I got to practice changing a tyre in the dry and daylight because tonight I had to do it again in the dark and rain–with the added frisson of having to do it at top speed before the bingo closed and locked up the carpark. Evidently the wheel needed replacing not repairing earlier in the week.

It was quite scary. I hadn’t clocked the fact that the tyre was flat again on the way into the car, and reversing and turning out of the space, the car handled like normal But when I came to go forward, it felt just awful. It didn’t feel like a wheel problem, it felt like the engine wasn’t connected properly. It felt very similar to the time the drive shaft dropped out of the Rover. I gingerly went around the carpark a few times trying to figure out what was wrong — was it just first gear, just second? No it does it in all forward gears, but not in reverse. Hmmm… I eventually got out to see if I was dragging something under the car, and immediately clocked the front tyre was not really properly attached to the wheel any more. Far worse than before, when it was just flat.

So, I changed it for the spare for the second time this week. Only this time, as I said, in the dark and wet, kneeling in a puddle, unable to see whether the nuts were hitting home or not. Somehow, I’ve managed to bend the tool you use to take the nuts out. (Tyre iron? Spanner?) But I eventually got home safely.

Secondly, I’ve had to replace my router again. I don’t know what I do to them to kill them so fast. Firstly a cheap but well specced USR router used to overheat and then fail to route unless you turned it off for an hour. Finally stopped using that in favour of a Sweex G wireless router, generously donated by a friend who somehow found himself with two. That died suddenly last night. So now, I have a Sitecom G wireless router instead, and a slap on the wrist from Visa who told me to pay down the balance on my credit card, not spend even more on kit. Well, it was an emergency. I can’t have half the network unable to see the outside world! And Sitecom have a 10 year warranty. I must keep the details safe, I’ve a feeling I’ll be needing them.

Ages ago, and I’m talking about *ages* ago, I played a borrowed copy of Tombraider, which I sat up for hours, days playing. I’m hopeless at computer games. They take me weeks and I usually have to download a cheat sheet to tell me what to do because I can’t figure it out on my own.

What made me gave up on Tombraider was an evil room where you had to do everything at once: jump accurately in different directions within a tight time limit. I kept either falling off into some sort of shark infested water, or still being in the wrong place at the wrong time and getting burnt alive.

I threw everything at that room, and never quite got through. How, I thought to myself, can I survive all those wild animals, even dinosaurs, for Pete’s sake, and get stumped by flames, sharks, and boxes at awkward angles. Now I’ve found Stella I know how to do it. And if I still can’t actually manage it, I could even download a ‘savegame’ to get me past it. Bless.

Still, that was years ago. I’ve long since lost my saved game, and my copy of Tombraider.

Now, thanks to the miracle of Amazon Shops, I have a new copy of Tombraider for under a pahnd.

I just fired it up. I can’t believe the graphics were that bad! It really must have been ages ago. I’ve been running around shooting things (an ex’s comment when we went to see the first Tombraider movie was something along the lines that hardly any bears, bats, wolves, lions, tigers or other protected species got unceremoniously shot dead. That and sarcastic comments about the backpack being full of rocks just to counterweigh the frontage) but otherwise not getting very far. Still in Caves II. Bah.

Two other things of note. First, I’m really glad I got to practice changing a tyre in the dry and daylight because tonight I had to do it again in the dark and rain–with the added frisson of having to do it at top speed before the bingo closed and locked up the carpark. Evidently the wheel needed replacing not repairing earlier in the week.

It was quite scary. I hadn’t clocked the fact that the tyre was flat again on the way into the car, and reversing and turning out of the space, the car handled like normal But when I came to go forward, it felt just awful. It didn’t feel like a wheel problem, it felt like the engine wasn’t connected properly. It felt very similar to the time the drive shaft dropped out of the Rover. I gingerly went around the carpark a few times trying to figure out what was wrong — was it just first gear, just second? No it does it in all forward gears, but not in reverse. Hmmm… I eventually got out to see if I was dragging something under the car, and immediately clocked the front tyre was not really properly attached to the wheel any more. Far worse than before, when it was just flat.

So, I changed it for the spare for the second time this week. Only this time, as I said, in the dark and wet, kneeling in a puddle, unable to see whether the nuts were hitting home or not. Somehow, I’ve managed to bend the tool you use to take the nuts out. (Tyre iron? Spanner?) But I eventually got home safely.

Secondly, I’ve had to replace my router again. I don’t know what I do to them to kill them so fast. Firstly a cheap but well specced USR router used to overheat and then fail to route unless you turned it off for an hour. Finally stopped using that in favour of a Sweex G wireless router, generously donated by a friend who somehow found himself with two. That died suddenly last night. So now, I have a Sitecom G wireless router instead, and a slap on the wrist from Visa who told me to pay down the balance on my credit card, not spend even more on kit. Well, it was an emergency. I can’t have half the network unable to see the outside world! And Sitecom have a 10 year warranty. I must keep the details safe, I’ve a feeling I’ll be needing them.