Resizing Pictures

My friend recently bought a new digital camera and was struggling to email me the pictures from our ''drunken nights'' as the pictures were too big. She is lucky enough to be running XP so I installed the handy image resizer from Microsoft for her and I thought I would share it with you as well for those who are unaware of it.

Click the title of this blog and you will go to the Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP site. Scroll down the right hand side and look for image resizer. It's a tiny download and it makes resizing pictures a doddle. Once installed just right click the picture or pictures you want to resize and click resize pictures. Pick large for normal computer use and click ok and it's as simple as that. It keeps the original and the resized picture keep the original name with (large) next to it.

I unfortunately run Vista as my laptop is a built for Vista machine which I found out to my disgust when I formatted it to put XP in. HP who makes my laptop provides no drivers for XP which I think is awful as I really don't like Vista. This image resizer is actually the thing I miss most from XP. I am looking for a programme to do the same thing without having to muck about with paint. If I find something I am happy with I will let you know. I just wish Microsoft would make PowerToys for Vista. Come on guys

Truecrypt

I know, if you are anything like me, you will have ''secrets'' on your laptop/pc that you dont want other people to see. I use Truecrypt for this. It's a great programme and completely free to download. There is full instructions on how to create the volume so just take it step by step and it's fairly straightforward. You assign a certain amount of space on your hard drive for the Truecrypt volume and that space is then passworded. It has the added bonus of having an inner layer and an outer layer to it. Each can be assigned a different password. I will give you a scenario of how that might work. You have secrets you might want to keep from your significant other. So you install truecrypt and make an inner and outer volume. In the outer volume you put things that you are happy for your significant other to see so if they insist in seeing what's in it there is no problem and they never need to know the secret inner volume is there. Genius!! The scenario they give on the website explains blackmail or extortion but come on guys how many of us are at danger of that?

What's also great about this programme is you can use it to encrypt part or all of your pen drives/memory sticks so you can carry about personal information and know that even if it's stolen no one can get into it.

This programme has saved my skin a few times so I donated some money as a thankyou. Just click on Truecrypt at the top to go to the website and protect your ''secrets''

I've had my house broken into

My shitty life keeps getting worse :( I came home from dinner at a friends last night to find my house had been broken into. The patio door had been forced open. I will admit, I was very scared. My friends came round and a couple of neighbours went in and checked the house but no one was in it. I have a feeling whoever broke in was disturbed though cos all that was missing was some money off the computer desk beside the patio door. I guess we could find more things are missing as time goes on though. But between the burglar, my neighbours searching my house and then the police, I feel completely violated. The house feels unclean. I want to scrub and change everything. I know I have been lucky that nothing more has been stolen but what gives anyone the right to break into someone else's house? I feel very sad about human nature tonight. I think it will be a long time till I sleep soundly in my bed again :(

The Danger of Trampolines

My daughter was injured on a trampoline at a friends house last Friday when she was accidentally kicked in the face. Doesn't sound serious? Well believe me it is. She has broken 2 of the bones in her cheek. She ended up being admitted to hospital with concussion and shock and was in a bad way actually. But that was only the beginning. She saw the facial surgeon on Monday and she has a 70% chance of needing surgery. Her face has been left numb due to the nerves being damaged. (She says it feels like after being at the dentist). If she is lucky the nerves are only being squashed by the swelling and will repair but that could take up to a year!! If she is unlucky the nerves are crushed between the bones and will never repair. Her face will be numb for the rest of her life. As time goes on she will likely suffer increasing double vision and visual disturbances also. Her sinus cavity also seems to be crushed so she is likely to have difficulty breathing through her nose. She is in so much pain with it that it breaks my heart :( She cant eat properly, cant drink properly, she cant even brush her teeth. She even struggles to curl her lips round the medicine spoon to take her pain killers :( Poor wee thing.

All this from playing on a trampoline? You better believe it. Due to my spinal injury I have lots of little falls and some big ones so unfortunately I have spent a fair amount of time in the waiting room at A&E and every time I am there, there is a kids with a broken leg or arm, cuts, scrapes, sprains and bruises and all from trampoline accidents. Late at night there are adults who have been drinking and decided to have a shot on the trampoline and have been hurt. These things are dangerous

Trampolines are not toys. Children should be supervised at all times. They should only be on one at a time and please get them to take off their shoes. My daughters friend was wearing trainers when she kicked her face. Maybe if she had had bare feet the damage might have been less.

My daughter has to get a CT scan this week and sees the facial surgeon next Monday. I'll let you know how it goes

I love this picture

And on the subject of bees I wanted to share this picture with you

Visitors in the garden

I went out to the garden today and found some activity in the bird boxes but not of the kind you would expect!! The bird box on the left has a wasps bike in it and the one on the right has a bee hive in it :O I disagree with the idea that just cos there is a wasp's bike or bee hive in your garden then you immediately destroy it. Now obviously some are in dangerous places and do need to be destroyed but in this case i am inclined to leave them be. They wont be there long and I'm sure we can just keep away from that part of the garden for a while. As a keen gardener and nature lover I know that there is increasing problems with the fertilisation of flowers due to there being less bees and wasps about This is due to the increase in pesticides and this idea that all bee hives and wasp's bikes need destroyed. Also wasps are very important in keeping down pest insects who do destroy crops. I am of the opinion that ''All God's creatures have a place in the choir'' and these wasps and bees are no different. Us humans are causing so much damage to this planet and everything needs to be for our convenience. We have upset the balance of nature. So let's just live and let live folks

Well my name is Angel and I am a 30 something, full time, single mum to 3 kids. I am also disabled after suffering a massive spinal trauma caused by a prolapsed disk in February 2008 just days after splitting up from my husband of 17 years. Although I have had some of the best times of my life in the last 18 months I have also gone through some serious set backs. One of my kids has started to take seizures recently, another has broken their cheek bone a few days ago and is facing prolonged facial reconstruction and the third is autistic. I have had repeated admissions back to hospital one which was for a bleed in my brain. My second stroke :( I also have 3 more disks partially prolapsed and could pop out at anytime causing further damage. Sitting on this ticking time bomb has made me realise that I need to live life for today cos who knows what tomorrow will bring. I have started taking the risks in my life that I was always too scared to take before. I have travelled alone to far flung places in the world on my own with only my trusted crutches. And most of all I'm having fun. So I am setting this blog up to be a bit of a diary but to also add any interesting things I see or find.