0204 - Christmas PSA

Notes on today's comic (20 Dec 2010):

I was working on Saturday, the last one before Christmas, and it was like a bloody zoo at work... What's disturbing is that there seemed to be an increase in obnoxious behaviour from guests. I'm not usually much of a one for social commentary, but in this case, I'm going to make an exception:

Please, retail staff are not superhuman, and we have feelings, too. You may be stressed out from all the running around, trying to find just the right gift (at the right price), and we understand that. But you need to understand that we have those stresses too, and we have to deal with yours. We'd like to have a happy Christmas season, too!

I hope that at least some of you listen to Penny.

News, Views and Just Plain Schmooze...

Monday 20 December 2010

The computer is in a usable state, though after all the updates, it's running slower than it was than right after I wiped it and put Windows back on (though it's faster than after I installed XP Service Pack 3 - damn that Indexing Service!). I don't think it's a touch of rustiness on my part that the mouse control under Paint.NET is not as good as it was on the laptop; I've had to change my drawing practice in order to accommodate this.

Until I can get a new computer (or I can get this one upgraded), I may have to resort to strips with little detail for the time being. I hope you'll still like the strip anyway.

Wednesday 15 December 2010

I'd had a feeling that sorting out the computer would take so long that I'd be unable to do a comic, but I hadn't imagined how long it would take! I'm nowhere near done, so the comic will have to wait until Monday, I'm afraid. If I'm not done by then, I'm in trouble!

I'm very grateful to Mike for helping out with donating a PC. Unfortunately, I'm going to be stuck without Minecraft until I can either upgrade this PC or buy a new one... I tried playing briefly, and it was running at ONE FRAME PER SECOND! Ah well. The machine looks like it'll be able to do what I need it to do, and for that, I'm very grateful.

So, tune in Monday for a real comic!

Monday 13 December 2010

As you can imagine, I was pretty depressed about my laptop dying. I shouldn't really be surprised, because I've had it in the order of about four years or so, and it's had a lot of usage. Still, when it's your primary source of entertainment, from doing this comic to watching video online, it hits you pretty hard.

I have a spare computer, that I rescued from a friend who was throwing it away - that's how I managed to get this update to the site. But here's how old the computer is: my pocket computer has more memory than the PC... and I found it easier to do the above picture on that pocket computer (no mouse on the PC!)

All being well, the computer my friend is kindly donating to me will be able to do the business, at least until I can afford a new one. But given that I've got more important financial obligations than buying myself a new computer (no matter how important the computer itself is to me), the whole issue hangs in the balance. As I say, please keep your fingers crossed for me.

Monday 6 December 2010

Nothing really to do with the comic at all, but as of yesterday, I've been in the USA for five years! If I can get the $685 to start the process, I'll try for citizenship! (cue ironic laughter...)