The New Week

There is no chemo therapy, this week. That means that mentally at least, if not physically, I can actually see, hear and do things that become less possible under the influence of the medication with which I am being treated.

The doctors did say that the effects of the regime of this treatment with Taxotere was going to be cumulative. I have no idea what anyone else thinks that this means - but for me - it seems to mean that if something has been ingested then the toxic effects of the stuff remain. So, the potential and in my case real side effects will increase and remain.

I have already warned my contacts and certainly readers that soon I expect to be called 'baldylocks' - or something similar.

I am at present fiddling with my computer to try and get things done that in my medicated condition seem impossible.

To my horror I am discovering what an absence from sitting in front of this machine means. It means being confronted with more than one screen full of new fangled ways of getting to, converting, viewing, doing - stuff.

In the past when I was gainfully employed working with computers on a daily basis, I really thought that anyone who could not get the hang of various programs by different companies was a boob. Boy was I wrong.

'Use it or lose it' - this should be the warning that accompanies any program and work place these days. At present I am not sure how one adjusts to the new offerings from open source software, the free software from Microsoft and of course all the connections that they have with other programs like those dealing with photos, blogs, news, groups where one can comment, where people join in to become part and parcel of the web. I no longer have any idea how to add my meagre contributions to the vast mass of stuff that is 'up there' on the web.

Anyway, one step at a time I am exploring what is available and note with interest that IBM actually states:

Lotus Notes 8 software integrates IBM Lotus Symphony software, office productivity tools that support the Open Document Format (ODF) standard. Open standards means you don't need to worry about end of life uncertainties or expensive, ongoing software licensing and royalty fees. Lotus Symphony software includes word-processing, spreadsheet, and presentation capabilities. Users can create, manage, and edit documents in ODF, as well as import and export Microsoft® Office documents.

How nice to find that to survive in today's marketplace they have gone for the integrated approach.

Why am I still interested after all this time? I guess it 's because I spent so much time over the years with their products - and often with products that they purchased and improved soon after I purchased or won a product and finally learned how to make it sing and dance.

These days I can barely survive trying to understand just a few products that are out there.

Change seems to happen so quickly that I am not likely to keep up. I guess that all this is a regret that I am no longer young enough or well enough to learn and to participate in what I suspect is the fast paced environment that we envisaged but never thought would actually happen.

The question should not really concern me, but it does. How do people actually find the time and energy to refresh their learning and their knowledge as frequently as they seem to have to while providing a knowledgeable competent service AND managing to do their bit at home with those really important things to do with life and living it, with family etc.

Boy the world has changed and all the while the same number of hours exist within which to get things done.

Back to reality for me. While the medications are not being pumped into me I can find the time to learn and develop even with what else is going on. Next week from Tuesday on when the meds are being applied again I suspect that his period of 'grace' will end.

For those who are interested in symptom watch, let me say that during this period that I am off the medication my mouth seems to have really dried out, my sinuses are either very clear or blocked and my need to get things, literally off my chest seem to increase each day, but more specifically when lying down and losing the upright position.

Now i am off to read that book that has been lying around the place for four days or watching a video. Speaking of which, if anyone has seen the movie called "Collateral" with Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise DO find it and have a look. It is riveting and will keep you glued to your seats. Do turn up the volume to hear every single word.

So enough of me today - I will try and report on things tomorrow.