Computer problems.. Again

At the moment the computer is here in bits with the cover off as i try to fix my cdrom drive. Its happened before so its easy to fix but i cant find the right screwdriver to fit the tiny screw :-(. I have some new programs that i want to install but without a cdrom drive its impossible as they are big downloads that a friend did for me yesterday and burned onto a cd. Now i have to find a place here that sells screwdrivers which isnt always easy. The moment they realise here that you are not brasilian the price jumps up every time you speak an english word, im not kidding you either lol. I went into one store a few minutes ago and the guys eyes lit up with dollar sgns (everyone here thinks i am either german or american not english). Needless to say i didnt buy anything from his store hahaha. Im waiting for people here to wake up so i can find a cheap place here to buy the screwdriver from or to see if we have one laying around the house

Give me a minute here okay, i need cups of coffee.. :-)

Okay i think someone is awake here now, let me go find out if we have a small screwdriver here. He's going to search around in the loft where all the tools are locked away. I cant get in there as i dont know where the key is hahahaha. I want to install the programs as there are also some things on the cd for someone else, some songs and lyrics i think so he will collect the cd from me later on so i need to get everything installed here so i dont have to use the cd for the rest of the weekend.

So what is so important on this cd you might ask yourselves. There are programs for editing pdf files without having to use the Adobe Acrobat program as its a huge download from the internet that i cant do as i havent got dsl. Some of the files that i downloaded to use with my students came in pdf format, they are unlocked so i can edit them etc but i need a program that will let me do this but didnt wanna pay $300 for the program lol. Luckily a friend of mine who has some friends who are computer geniuses found some nice software for me to use, ill have to try to get my brother to send me some games in the mail to say thanks to them :-) Of course now the problem is that i cant access the cd hahahaha. Typical aint it?, the moment you want to do something you can be sure that something always happens to screw it all up :-) I'll sort it before the end of the morning, ive got no choice as i have to give conversation classes in the afternoon in Formosa

Oh My God, the dog just shit outside the window, its like chemical warfare from Iraq. Im not going to say anything to the dog though as hes a HUGE rottwieller hahahaha

Im trying to decide what we are going to do in conversation class this afternoon, whether to do a game or a serious conversation subject. I like to try to do something different whenever i can just to keep it moving along and have a lot of fun at the same time. Ill get a few photos from there later on this afternoon and email them to myself so i can alter them here and post them to my website. The photos are there i just need to get them here and the computer i use is a network computer so it hasnt got a floppy disk drive but i can just email them to myself or maybe just upload them to the site and alter them later on. Will figure it out later when i get there :-)

I got a nice set of study guides from my MEC 1 in Planaltina the other day. I had been downloading them one at a time and printing them off and then my students suprised me by printing them all off and putting them into a binder for me too, nice isnt it? So a big thanks goes out to my student from Mec 1, thanks Pamella, Gilson, Mauro and especially Marcus who did the printing etc for me :-). I have been reading through them all to see what interesting ideas i can come up with for the classes and they gave me a few things that i can work with that i think will be alot of fun :-) When i try them out ill post here how they worked okay?

Right i guess i had better try and get this computer all back together before i have to go and teach. Have a peachy day okay? ;-)

posted at 6:18 AM by john |   

Thursday, November 13, 2003

Matrix Revolutions

posted at 10:07 AM by john |   

Oh i dont believe it hahahaha

I just dont believe it, i finally get my computer all fixed and get online to post to find that the blogger site is down for maintenence and Wbloggar wont work either. Just my luck lol. Oh well at least the computer is up and running again so i can at least post and check my emails once in a while. Later if i get time i will see if i can get a friend to send me the photos of the students from the other school in Formosa that are stored on the computer there so i can post a few of them online here. I have around twenty of them i guess there so i should have a few to shove on here, ill try to get it done at the end of the week when i have more time

Wow its 8am already, i have to haul arse over to the school now.. back soon

Okay as you can see im back, i had to visit the bank too which is in another city so it took the whole morning but finally i landed hom,e. I just stuffed myself with lunch and in a few minutes ill be off to visit the fair in Planaltina to see what pirate software is available as i want a copy of Adobe Acrobat so i can use it to seal my files i make for work so that they are just able to print them without using them as their own ;-)

Right off again.. see you lateron :-)

posted at 10:02 AM by john |   

Wednesday, November 12, 2003

Im counting the days now!!

Its just a matter of weeks and then i will be free of the school in Sobradinho forever. Im not the only one though who has had enough, i have heard that at least two more teachers are also leaving. See the rats are fleeing the sinking ship hahahaha. Even some of the students were telling me that they want to come study at planaltina to give you an idea how bad things are getting. Still im sure that its worth paying for dirt cheap poor useless secretaries to drive both students and teachers away to study at Wizard or Wisdom right?

The other day after buying coca cola for my students because it was blistering hot and we were sat by the swimming pool instead of in the classroom, me and my students were all reported to the director. Yeah childish aint it?, just shows how bad the people are i have to work with doesnt it? Now students are beginning to hate them more and more, for me though i just want my time there to hurry up and end so i can teach at another school. I have two already lined up and i know that i will get picked up to work at either one of them no problem :-)

One nice thing is that apparently alot of my students have been logging in to read this site, by the end of tomorrow i should have the monitor back and fixed so expect to see alot more posts including photos hopefully of my students in Formosa.

Any typing mistakes please excuse as this keyboard is a pile of crap and half of the keys arent working properly as i am at a lanhouse hahaha. I cant wait for my computer to be fixed, it might be slow but at least it all works. Most of my files that i use at the school are also stored on it so itll be nice that i can access them all again.

Its really hot and humid at the moment, even my Fanta Orange is warm and i only just brought it hahahaha. Maybe i should just go to Bay Park instead and spend the afternoon relaxing ;-) Nice dream but unfortunately its not possible as i have classes all afternoon :-( Still there is always the weekend i guess if i get time

Okay time for me to end as i have just one hour before i go to work and still have emails left to write.. Bye!!!

posted at 10:10 AM by john |   

Monday, November 10, 2003

I need a serious vacation hahahahaha

Hi guys and gals, sorry its so long between posts, my pc is still down and the school modem isnt working and i have no way of using the internet at Sobradinho either. Still hopefully my monitor will be fixed my the end of the week when the parts arrive.

I had to tell the director of the school in Sobradinho that this will be my last semester teaching there. the situation with the secretaries has become a sort of war, four of them onto me. Yeah right i know, this is the sort of behavior that we expect from little children isnt it but they still persist and i dont get paid enough to put up with all of their crap just because i didnt screw the cleaning lady a couple of semesters ago. The other day they even turned off the modem at the school just so that i couldnt use it, of course they didnt care that also the students in the lab were using it as well. They just make themselves more and more unpopular with everything they do, my students have already been saying they want to complain and put the director straight on some of the things that have been happening but i asked them not to bother as once i left they could always come to study at one of the other CCAA schools i continue to teach at. Hmmm maybe i should have complained more at the beginning of the semester but with british people we dont go in for all this kissing the bosses arse all the time to get promoted in our jobs, we prefer to do it though grafting instead. Maybe they will learn this in time right...

Anyway other than this, my life is just fine hahahahaha. Hey there to any students who are reading this, guys are you reading that study guide that i gave you on friday.. is it any good.. i have loads more if you wanna try them out too. My brother emailed me the other day to say that my family in England have posted me some xmas cards and that they are already starting to put up the xmas decorations. They will send me some photos so something for you guys to look forward too there right, oh and also some pics of my students from formosa as well. Maybe i should learn how to use paintshop so i can modify the photos a little, sort of plastic surgery without the pain ;-)

Anyway my time is nearly up here so i had better post before i get cut off.. Have fun guys.. and nice to know people are still dropping by

posted at 10:06 AM by john |