A new situation...

Playlist

Herman Van Veen - Elf Lieder

Pink Floyd - Pulse

Vanhal - 6 Quartette Concertante

Pet Shop Boys - Electric

Chicago - Chicago VII

Bill Frisell - East West

Out for breakfast to Patisserie Florentin - obviously after I'd already been up for ages...

Taking pictures of Meg the Black Cat of course...

And then to the Stockbridge market for some last minute buys re a visit this afternoon from John and Ali, the Impossible Songsters...

On the way back, we dropped into an electrical retailer for a look at some laptops again...

The one I wanted was now being offered with £100 cashback - so, effectively, £100 cheaper than 8 days ago - but there was none in stock...

Dropping Anne back off at Crispycat Towers to prep for later, I nipped to another shop which had the same machine on display...

Again though, none in stock - indeed, apart from display items, there seemed not to be a single one of these available in Scotland - according to web searches...

This second shop would not countenance a sale of the only machine they had - but, back at the first shop, a deal was done and I returned home around 1:30 pm with a new laptop in my sweaty palms...

The netbook had been good for a few weeks but was just not powerful enough to do what I need to do now - and will need to do, should my muse return...

Intel Core i7 Processor, 8GB RAM and a 1TB Hard Drive - that should do the trick...

The laptop's operating system is Windows 8, which will take some getting used to and will also mean many of the programmes I used routinely on the old desktop will not run on this...

So, no doubt, long hours of frustration ahead...

At four, with me not too far forward in the learning process but with the machine up and running, John and Ali arrived...

We were supposed to be going along to see our chum Norman Lamont play at the Fringe tonight but J&A advised he'd just announced he was having to call off tonight's performance, having lost his voice...

So we enjoyed a good chat, good sounds, good food and drink and coffee...

...and were entertained by Meg...

John took this (and the mug above)...

...on his iPhone...

Sounds later from the kitchen, were discovered to have been Meg misbehaving..

Despite having her own lovely food available, she'd decided instead to steal the remaining selection of Spanish cold meats...

In the evening, with J&A off home, there was more trying to get to grips with the new situation - interrupted for the last episode of "The White Queen"...

I was disappointed they stuck to historical detail and allowed Henry VII to defeat Richard III...

Oh well...

Another weekend over...

Highlight of the Day : New computer/visit from chums...