The Sunday Salon

Good morning Saloners! I’ve had a computer-filled weekend which, after some stress on Friday and Saturday, has ended very well. I have been without a proper computer of my very own for a while now. My old laptop, which I used in college and graduate school, still actually functions, but it crashes too often for me to use it reliably, and we’ve never actually been able to figure out what is wrong with it. In lieu of my own computer, my husband and I have generally been sharing his top-spec desktop PC, which has led to some frustration. Recently I discovered that one of my friends had a cast-off older computer, which he was kind enough to give to me. I bought some new parts for it over the past week, and was all excited to have it working on Friday night at long last, exactly the way I wanted it.

Unfortunately, it turns out that the new processor I’d purchased was dead before it ever made it into the PC. At one point we didn’t know what was wrong and I’d potentially have to wait even longer, spend more money, and have an uncertain result even at that stage. So after a ton of testing, we put the old processor back in and the computer finally worked; it’s not up to the spec I’d planned, but it’s now running smoothly and happily and I am independently on my own PC once again. The dead processor has been sent off for a return, and I will probably end up with a better one in a couple of months when I can afford it. I’m very excited about this, as you can imagine; I’m hoping to do all sorts of things now that I don’t have to share, and blogging definitely has a place amongst them.

In reading news, I’m deep into a reread of all the Harry Potter books, thanks to their launch in ebook form last month. I’ve been alternating one of them in between review books and it has been fantastic getting re-acquainted with this world. I’m on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at the moment and, while I recall this being the most annoying of all of them, I’m thoroughly enjoying it. It’s appropriate to spend this weekend reading as we’re currently drowning in the UK. The river nearby – the Ouse in York – and many of the fields are flooded and it’s still raining. To give you some perspective, here’s the river – those are submerged benches on the right. The river is usually a good six feet below the grass, if not more, and yesterday it was right at the edge and ready to spill over.

It’s also very chilly, which makes us reluctant to go outside and do much, truly the perfect day for holing up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

I have a couple of reviews already scheduled this week and I’m hoping to update with a third at some point too. I have only been reading a couple of books a week, and I look forward to actually getting caught up now that I have a computer and the time to do it. My last client visit for a while is tomorrow, and I’m blissfully not scheduled for anything else throughout the month of May.

Wishing you all a very lovely week and some good reads for your free time!