"over the sea and far away..."

Well i'm writing now from a power cut! the power has been out a good few hours. This internet place has a genny (good idea!) but no UPS (bad idea). The upside is i can use the net. The downside is that everytime the generator power supply fluctuates, the computers restart. UPS would help them a LOT. most places have it. UPS is a back-up battery that keeps the computer running through momentary and extended power glitches up to about half an hour, depending on it's age. they are cheap. The main use is to do what i said, or give you time to safely shutdown if you have big servers.

anyways, geekiness aside...

i woke up today and that particular masterpeice of film The Mighty Ducks was on. And I have also watched Legally Blonde 2, which is very funny.

Yesterday i searched all the bookshops for Henry David Thoreau's Walden... in vain i'm afraid. And i can't read books online... it hurts my eyes.

it appears i can touchtype... all the lights went out. Which implies this new machine i am now on does indeed have a UPS battery on it. awesome. (i moved).

yeah... so anyway, i bought some candles to conserve torch power... i have a couple LED torches, so all is well really... but ya know. I figure if i use candles more than electric lights i'll be helping save the planet.

still managing to dodge mr. over-enthusiastic-let-me-give-you-an-expensive-tour, so that is good.

Here's a dillema for you. I have more time than ever before to read, yet it is harder than normal for me to obtain books i want. If i decide to read Wilbur Smith or Tolstoy or Ken Follet, there will be no shortage of books. maybe i'll buy War and Peace ;oP

Ken Follet. There's a thing... In England, he never seems to be that popular. He lives in or near Stevenage, which is where I live. His wife is our MP, and so he's in the community a lot. And, frankly, he's a bloody nice bloke. But, you don't see that many of his books around, considering how many he's written.

But out here, his books are EVERYWHERE. every bookshop in india and nepal i've been to has at least 3 of his titles in, and normally more than one of each. and most of the books in those shops will have been bought off of tourists second-hand. Maybe he appeals a lot to travellers?

I think I might read one of his books while I'm out here. I nearly bought one called WhiteOut, as I remember reading a positive review of it, and it looks pretty interesting. I have a copy of John Grisham's The Broker to read too, from Joel. so i shall probably do that before i buy anymore books. They are a pain to transport, and i've already got to lug the absurdly impractical and cumbersome Lonley Planet around... you'd think they could print it on rice paper or something like the Bible and the dictionary are... or make a CD-Rom. crazy people. It doesn't suprise me so many people sell them on at the first oppourtunity. It's useful, sure, but so BIG!

Today i bought a gore-tex bivvy bag. cost me 8pounds including a pair of gore-tex fleece-lined gloves. (haggled). in england, those bivvies are like 100 pounds. It's a bit snug in there, but i'm quite snug in a lot of things ;oP it's not the army-issue one, it's a Northface one, but hey. i think that's why it's a bit more snug. if i find a better one i'll trade.

anyways, the power is back now, so i'll sign off and see if there are any good movies on.

Later.