AT LAST

I now have two computers that don't crash regularly.  The new work one (replaced after HD failed) and the backup one, after exploring several  dozens of possible reasons.*

And I have met a zillion work deadlines while living on tenterhooks and saving stuff to external discs every half hour.

And of course nobody wants to know all that but naturally people keep asking me if Vent du Sud is about to disappear.

No.

Yesterday I finally started building again. And would have done more if the dishwasher hadn't decided to produce a lake on the kitchen floor.

Ah, life is full of surprises, eh?

Now, Christmas and glowy rich winter colours at Vent du Sud will not be happening quite yet, but unless some other major catastrophe happens, it will.

Even the couch above is (I admit it) a case of recolouring and retexturing, but it is a START. But it's not finished yet as I was too busy mopping up to put all the textures I wanted into it.

When I have finished it (if nothing else breaks today I should get there), I will even put parts of the set and some other stuff out for free. 

Why? Because despite me being AWOL, people have kept coming to Vent du Sud, buying stuff, and taking the time to leave messages asking if I was OK.

I'm OK.  If a little worn down (and I hate washing up by hand).

Thank you, really.

(It was also nice to get out of the same SL clothes I'd been wearing for what, six weeks? **)

I also know a lot more about Windows administrative tools, security audits and bugcheck codes than I ever expected to.


I am now off start work, with the aim of digging into my textures folder later.

*For info, Zone Alarm Pro, after its last updates, does not cohabit nicely with Windows 7 and / or Office 2010 on certain types of machine (like both of mine but no problem on Sir's with an identical setup. All perfectly legit software too. But a huge thanks to the lovely lady who came up with the idea of it being ZA at the exact moment I was ready to throw the **** machines out of the window.
** Not that you can see much, but Zaara. One of my cheerer-upper, go-to designers.

Return from chaos?

Hey people....and no I have not fallen off the planet.

Trip to Vietnam (work), washing mountain, sick computer, massive backlog of other work. Oh, and a large chunk of garden, meaning pruning (very cathartic, pruning) and otherwise putting stuff to bed for winter.

I mean it's always busy at this time of year but this has been much worse than usual.

(For a change, as as I have nothing new to plug, have a photo of Vietnam)

Virtually no SL, sadly, because no time and / or no energy except to sneak in for a few minutes and usually to drop off to sleep in front of the screen while trying to hold a conversation. Not ideal. And building? Er... that requires coherent though and I was fresh out of it.

I did, thankfully, manage to save my photos (and work stuff!) before the HD finally crashed - and this on a 7-month old machine.

Not impressed, and telling me "well you know travelling isn't good for them" does not make me happy. In fact it makes me rather cranky as the poor guy at the PC shop might just have noticed.

(Lots of cropping and fiddling to do yet, and to upload a few onto Flickr but one thing at a time, eh?)

However, Vent du Sud is still there, even if part of Rett's store went mysteriously missing (but I did find time to put it back).

And as of this weekend, or thereabouts, there will be new stuff and breathless subscribo messages etc. etc. etc.

As long, that is, that nothing else breaks down, blows up or falls apart. Mr SL broke the chainsaw this morning but that doesn't count, really. I draw the line at chopping down branches (or chopping up bodies).

Back soon then, and hugs all round from a VERY tired Ari...!