#Up in the clouds

Getting it all in perspective. Best foot forward!

Boots from Vindolanda Roman Fort

I joined an on-line organisation named 'Academia' a while back to get access to more academic information on Roman Britain, and the world of Celtic Europe. I had been able to download a few articles FREE before then but realised that there were many other possibilities to look at. I can't presently remember exactly how much the annual fee is (~ £50?) but I coughed up the cash since I try to pay for access to information when the price is reasonable.

And now I have a fabulous wee problem... :-)

Once signed up, I was asked to state my main historical interests and although (I think) I plugged in Roman Britain, I might have added Celtic Britain; and The Roman Empire; and The Ancient Roman Army...and probably a lot more? The moment I became a member I received almost daily emails with links to papers that would likely interest me - and they definitely do! I studiously read the first ones, some shorter and many longer beyond a thesis length.  I won't ever use more than the tiniest amount in my roman Britain fiction but I love researching about the eras I write about.

Very soon after signing up, other reading priorities took over and new additions via email from Academia were popped into a file in my email storage system. To read later... as well as my fiction TBR pile.

And the problem now is...

 

I've around 250 papers/ articles/ books (PDFs) still to read and I want to read them all!!  So, how do I stretch time? I'm currently transferring all manner of files from a limping 6 year-old laptop to a new one that was ordered before the COVID 19 lockdown. The first brand new laptop arrived by mid-March 2020, but had a fault and had to be returned. Unable to send me a replacement new Dell, I got the money back and now have brand new HP - an upgrade of my now 6 year-old HP.

I'm clearly not good at deleting unrequired email and word files from my local laptop disc since I've spent days doing just that. And I've also spent days saving lots of text and image files from my failing laptop to my external hard drive, and some of the most important files also onto a USB stick. (paranoid? Yes, I am terrified I lose important stuff!)

I want to download all of the PDFs from Academia in one fell swoop - but can't. (and... I don't want to lose the email links either when I move to my new lappie). My OH is currently trying to remember how to transfer all of my Mozilla Thunderbird saved emails to the new HP. He managed it when I renewed the current laptop in 2014, but that was a long time ago...AARGH!

Albrecht Durer- goddess Fortuna 

I'm now at that horrible and scary stage of working across 2 different laptops. The new Office 365 package that I bought last Nov 2019, is about to be replaced by the most up to date version on the new laptop which will see me not only working with the 'cloud' but I'll probably be in the 'cloud' - cuckoo land  that is by the time all is up and running on the new.

Technology- don't you just love it?

Just as well I have a techie daughter who is helping me - her at her house and me in mine. True social distancing rules!

Updates to come later, when I'm doing my new WIP writing on the new laptop.

Wishing you a happy Easter Holiday, or just Friday, or whatever. I won't say normal because the whole world isn't normal just now with the current COVID 19 crisis.

Slàinte!