One L or Two?

This week I shall be travelling.  Or will I be traveling?

travel |ˈtravəl|
verb ( -eled , -eling ; also chiefly Brit. -elled, -elling)
1 [ intrans. ] make a journey, typically of some length or abroad : the vessel had been traveling from Libya to Ireland | we traveled thousands of miles.

People who use British English have a small problem with Blogger because it uses US English.  Now I am the last person to say that one is correct and one is not but it is quite irritating when every time I spell a word with 'll' or 'ise' (as in realise) I'm told that I'm wrong.  'Cos I'm not!  I used to be a very good speller.  Now I'm constantly making errors (much to CJ's chagrin when we are doing crosswords) and am frequently racked (or wracked) with doubt which is not helped (and may even be caused in part) by spillchuckers.  

Of course there are words which are a particular bête noire.  Mine was 'across' which  for the first 60+ years of my life I always spelled 'accross'.

One I only recently discovered or realised was inquiry (US) instead of enquiry (UK).  Odd that it had taken me so long to come across that one.

PS.  I managed everything in town in record time so am doing this over a cup of coffee before I mend the shed roof and make lunch.  Oh how I love days when I get lots done. 

Wasp Spiders

It's 9.15am.  I have two days before I leave Eagleton.  I've brought in the storm shutters from the garage because there is not much wind this morning for the first time for a week.  I was getting concerned because they are too big and heavy to carry in a strong wind.  I have a HUGE list of things to do this morning in town including taking all Gaz's pictures to An Llantair for the annual  Grinneas nan Eilean Art Exhibition.  Then I have a friend coming for lunch at noon.  So why am I thinking about Wasp Spiders and standing in front of a laptop?  Don't ask 'cos I don't know the answer.  It defies common sense.

But I woke up with a desire to share wasp spider pictures.  The first two were taken at Chudleigh Knighton Heath near Exeter in 2007 and the last one in the Lot-et-Garonne this year. 

Passwords and Usernames

How many web pages, online stores, online services, cellphones, utility accounts and so on do you have?  I have no idea how many I have but the general list I keep (ie the low security websites and not things like bank accounts, telecoms, email accounts and so on) has just reached 100 and that's after a culling of the old ones I no longer use.

I don't know about other people but I do not use the same username or password all the time: in fact I have dozens and dozens of passwords.  Having had my American Express identity stolen on one occasion (and Amex sorted it out quickly and effectively and removed all the fraudulent charges without my even asking thus making me an even more loyal customer) I am very finicky about password and pin number security.

However my feeble brainpower is just not able to keep all that information in my head so I have a spreadsheet with it all on and I keep bank and email account information completely separate.

All of it is, however, in encrypted files of one sort or another.  I used PGP Encryption back in the day when it was free and public encryption programs were not so readily available.  Now I use various other programs including McAfee and Apple.  The only problem is that, in order to satisfy any enquiry into the security of the encryption, the passwords I use are all a full sentence long.  I've been using them for so many years I doubt I shall ever forget them.  But you never know.  And if that happens........

Travelling Travails

My son, Gaz, and his girlfriend are supposed to be going to Hong Kong tomorrow on their way to Auckland where they are due to arrive the day after I arrive.  I flew Quantas to Australia in 1999.  I  learned my lesson.  I've never set foot on a Quantas plane since.  When I went to New Zealand in 2005 I stayed in Hong Kong en route and flew Cathay Pacific.  The service was superb.  However since then I've flown Air New Zealand and have been well satisfied. 

So what didn't occur to me was that Gaz and Carol were flying Quantas.  Or at least that was their intention.  As readers will probably know Quantas have grounded their entire overseas and domestic fleet and locked out their staff.  Their website gives absolutely no information.

So will Gaz and Carol get to Hong Kong?  Will their holiday be ruined?  And that's just the people I care about. What about the thousands of others?  What about the Australian economy and the hit that will take?  What about Quantas?  Well time will tell but just now all I care about is my family.  No Quantas, you still won't be getting any of my business - however cheap you make your flights.