This week has been busy but not satisfying. Sometimes life is just like that.

Attila had a day off work last Sunday. However, our short time together had to work around our daughter's comings and goings, as they planned and purchased bridesmaid's dresses and accessories. We had an exciting but not a restful day. Attila and I hope that this weekend brings another day that we might spend together. We are planning to leave the city in the early morning hours, before "The Teenager" is awake, if we are lucky enough to find ourselves with a free day.

The weather has been very cool, certainly too cool to sit on the back deck and take in the day. The windows have been shut tight against the brisk breezes for over a week. I find myself longing to throw open the window beside my computer, to listen to the wind in the trees and the calls of the birds. The weather report says that the temperature will rise to 19 degrees centigrade today, if only it was true, it is 4 degrees centigrade this morning.

The garden is green and lush. Irises bloom contentedly. Spirea sprays bob and sway, showering the plants below them with billows of small white petals with every gust of wind. The sky is patches of blue through the trees. The Rhubarb is flourishing and has provided us with our first domestic crop. Small green shoots are emerging from the soil where the basil seeds were planted. Perhaps I will fetch my parka from storage and sit out on the back deck after all. I could take my laptop out with me, no danger of overheating in this weather.

Quicken, and other computer challenges, have eaten my week alive. I doggedly searched online help files and the built-in help documents of the program until I pieced together its basic structures. All the bank accounts are now recorded and coordinated with online banking.

This has been the most stressful time I have ever spent on a computer, with the exception of trying to get theses into a printable format, which were notable, time-delimited nightmares. All that is behind me now. The Quicken file has been carefully backed up and my understanding of the program has increased to a barely adequate level, allowing some peace of mind.

Attila says that if I were learning Quicken by manipulating other people's money, I would have had no problems at all. Perhaps he is right; I really don't like balancing my budget.

My other computer project has been to install both Windows 95 and Windows 98 on Marjory the Macintosh. I purchased the upgrade for my emulation software, Virtual PC. The upgrade process has been fraught with frustration; but again, I have searched the online help files and program documentation and managed to get the whole thing running smoothly.

What I like most about running Windows on Marjory is that when Windows gets hopelessly corrupted I can format the drive by simply deleting the drive volume and creating a new one. A simple click and drag to the trash can takes care of the corrupted operating system. I backup all my Windows documents on Marjory, so that nothing is lost with the Windows drive. In addition, there are no hardware puzzles to deal with. I seldom boot up the old Intel on my desk.

My next computer challenge will be to either install the new Macintosh OS X that is UNIX based or install LINUX using Virtual PC. I am leaning towards LINUX as it will be installed via an emulator and will not affect the basic operations on my computer. I am very fond of my current OS 9.1 and like my digital environment just the way it is. Marjory and I are happy with one another at present. Decisions, decisions...

What I like most about computers is that there is always something new to learn; boredom is seldom an issue. What I like least about computers is that they are a one-on-one activity with a machine and preclude concrete human contact.

I very much look forward to Attila's next day off work.

Attila arrived home early today and the temperature made it all the way to 17 degrees centigrade. Both unexpected pleasant surprises. Can you see me waving from the back deck? No? Surely you can see me smiling.