As noted last time, I have started swimming lessons. I have been ribbed by my co-habitees, as they offer to blow up my armbands or find me a nice inflatable ring, but I don't mind. I also don't mind falling between two stools as it were -- not beginner-y enough for the beginners and not improved enough for the improvers. I don't mind not being able to breathe and kick and thrash with my arms at the same time. I do mind the water up my nose and the distinct feeling that I could learn as much on my own, without a teacher.

But it's a regular time and pre-paid, so I'll keep going (more than likely) despite the fact that I think it's a bit boring. Lesson two tonight.

And so for a computer related rant. We purchased a laptop just before christmas and hey nonny no, the trial period for the anti-virus software elapsed a couple of weeks ago. Having ignored the nagging for a while, I decided to subscribe to the service (McAfee as it happens, but I don't believe that there's much between any of these services -- I have Norton on my other machine). So you click the Verify Subscription button on the dialog box and it goes and loads a generic product page on the website where you have to log in. I forgot what email address I used when I registered this product originally and it would not allow me to create another account with a different email, so I had to go to my email archives and find out which account I used at the time. That done, I, of course, didn't know the password, so I had to get a reminder email for it. Ok, NOW I'm logged in. And they want to know what product I have. But I just clicked out of it, and you know my email address from registration, so why don't you know what product I have?

Feh. So I dig around trying to find out if I have 2001, 2002, 2003, professional or standard or whatever. I work it out and choose the correct option. Then they ask me where I am. Ireland. Fine. So they send me to the UK site. I really hate this. Especially as we use, you know, a different currency. Then they tell me that they don't like my browser and could I please re-visit using Internet Explorer 5 or later. Fuckers. These guys are a security company, right? And they want me to use that piece of crap? Oh well, I'd invested too much time in this to be put off at this time, so I changed browser, logged in etc. etc. Then, having accepted my payment details, they tell me that when my subscription expires that they'll take another one automatically from this credit card. Whut? Jesus, they keep my credit card details forever? We'll see about that. Then when I click on the download link, the popup blocker gives out and their website asks me to disable it. Why? Surely it's possible, for a security company to not require this? I give in (I've paid for the damn thing after all) and eventually I'm all anti-virused up.

Next year, however, it'll be a different story.

There's a caveat to this tale. I did this a couple of days ago and tried to update two separate machine with two separate products so I may have got the sequence wrong, but the essential truth of the story still holds, ok?

Little girl turned one and suddenly decided to sleep through the night, start talking and give walking a proper go. It's like she suddenly thought Jesus! I'm getting old, let's get on with this stuff. Next year she'll be looking for a mobile phone and Nikes.