It lives!

I was less than happy at the thought of my laptop being dead. Yes, it has done over six years but it wasn’t the planned changeover I would have liked. It was later when I finally went in to eat so I had time for an episode of series four of Poldark and a quick Open All Hours to finish off with. I managed to get to bed just after 22:00 and it didn’t take long for me to fall asleep.

There was a lot of barking in the night which leads me to believe Georgia wasn’t in the camping. Generally, she has the dogs in with her as she’s a late sleeper so doesn’t wish for a dawn chorus.

Isabella was in last night as it was cooler so there was no stomping on the decking. Even Charlie decided he might be better off inside. We were alone on the Promontory as the FreeLoaders had packed up their little dome tent and presumably gone home to be ready for work this morning. We completed several circuits with combinations of dogs then returned to the camping. I left Oskar at the field gate with Isabella and Skinny as it was about time he went on the second walk to entertain Isabella. One of the cats was bravely waiting in the compound as we walked in but sensibly retired to a carob so that she could be petted without getting nibbled by the dogs into the bargain.

I put the dogs inside, fed the cats, who were assembled in readiness, and off we set for a walk east as the wind was from the west. We were quickly onto the beach and the van with the big dog from yesterday had left so I let Oskar go. He had a collar so was reachable anyway. Skinny was on the 10m lunge so he and I walked close to the water’s edge occasionally dodging the incoming waves. Oskar and Isabella were concentrating on the discovery of horrid treasures so I let them get on with it so long as they kept up reasonably.

I was contemplating my laptop problem and bemoaning the fact I’d mislaid the replacement cable preventing me from seeing if the problem was the charger or the laptop. I remembered that the reason for changing to the spare charger was that the cable from the old charger to the laptop had been nibbled by the youngest dog and rendered useless. I’d already repaired the cable several times anyway. I then considered the possibility of shortening the cable by cutting out the nibbled section allowing me the opportunity to see if the replacement charger had failed.

At the end of the walk, I got out my tools, shortened the cable and soldered it back onto the circuit board. The PSU (Power Supply Unit) is not intended to be repaired so I had to break open the case which was glued together. I plugged the charger into the socket once I’d reassembled the case and then the other end into the laptop. The little light came on immediately and the laptop battery began to charge. This indicates that the other charger has failed after only six months or so. The original one is still working after six years albeit with a bodged cable. I had a look on Amazon and have ordered a replacement PSU and will replace the cable on the other if I eventually discover where it has got to.

I set off for my shopping trip to Petrakis relieved that I would be able to use my laptop and not have to struggle with the older one.

I’d not gone far when I noticed the almost smooth surface of the road together with the aroma of freshly-sprayed tar. Not an unpleasant smell which reminds me of Wright’s Coal Tar Soap which I used when younger. The roller had been busy, the surface had been tarred and a sort of temporary dressing had been applied. Cars were still going slowly, not because of the potholes but so as not to flick stones everywhere and break windows. This revelation continued until almost past all of the building going east but here there were still machines digging and generally churning everything up.

I was at Petrakis a little later than normal so all the fresh produce was either unpacked and inside or still on the pavement outside. I examined the vlita and grabbed a large quantity as it looked so good. On reflection, I might have been a little more conservative although it will freeze so I’ve read. Fresh is nicer though I think. The dogs will get the stalks when I make Doggy Dinners again in two days time.

My ride back was into the wind, I had shopping and the bike battery was getting low. Not a particularly good combination although I made it back before the battery was too low requiring me to do all of the work.

The dogs were keen to come out, I fed them then made my breakfast. I was relieved to notice that my laptop was almost charged and the little light on the magnetic connector was still glowing brightly. Hopefully, my Amazon replacement will arrive before the present bodge-up falls apart.

I received an email from Aris in reception to say a package had arrived from Banggood, another Chinese sales platform like Alibaba and Aliexpress, the retail arm. I got my batteries from Alibaba as I was ordering a quantity but normally you’re expected to be buying as a business in 100s or 1,000s.

I walked up to the reception office to pick up the camera I’d ordered to put in the reception. Georgia decided it would arrive too late so bought one locally via mail order. I’d since configured it and put it in the office for her to determine where she might like it positioned. Aris(totelis) told me that she was considering putting that camera elsewhere and I have yet to hear of its new location.

I spent quite a bit of the remainder of the day playing with this camera which cost around €25 as opposed to the one for €60 which admittedly is a PTZ camera but doesn’t unfortunately work with the Dahua system installed in the camping. The new camera does conform to the ONVIF protocol meaning that Georgia can earwig whenever the mood takes her. The camera is currently a PussyCam as can be seen below.

Here we are again at the end of another sunny, warm day. Radio Paradise is playing Mobi on the nearby speaker, my supper is ready to eat, Isabella and Skinny are jousting on the decking and the flies are driving me mad!