On Tuesday May 26th my web card, which I now know is the equivalent of what we call in Britain, a dongle, decided to pack up on me. I rushed it into the shop for repair or replacement and was told it would take 14 working days, (3 weeks). Horror of horrors.

My Sarah having just moved was, and still is, having trouble getting broadband wireless installed due to the fact that she now lives in the New Forest.

Having broken my ribs a couple of weeks before, I was staying with her so that I could be waited on and looked after. The frustration of having the whole family with no Internet has been horrendous. Then yesterday I was looking through the Argos catalogue and discover that there is now such a thing as a pay as you go web and walk dongle. The cost is £25 to set ones self up with one. Yesterday I bought one of these and it was a simple matter of replacing the pay as you go chip with my contract chip in order to get me up and running on the web again until my...

Wow, I just don't know where to start.

Today is my 60th birthday and last night was Halloween. I was born at 20 minutes past midnight on the night the Witches and the Dead were roaming freely.

Being my 60th and having reached this special mark in my life I have thought over the last weeks that perhaps it should be celebrated in a special way but couldn't come up with anything I particularly wanted to do. Last year, being the first time in years that once again virtually the whole family were living in the same town, we all went out for an expensive dinner for my birthday. For me that was not only celebrating my birthday but also celebrating us all being together once again. I didn't feel the need for a big fuss this year. But last night I was in for a big surprise.

Being Halloween we planned to take my youngest GG, Jess, and one of her friends to the village where my Niece and Sister live for them to go trick or treating. While the elder kids,...