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January 15, 2000

A First Time for Everything

I have had my very first hardware failure; I have owned Apple and Macintosh computers since 1986. My computer will not boot from the hard drive. I can boot from floppy and CD, so I will not lose anything but time, effort, and perhaps the cost of a new hard drive. I have a warranty purchased from MacWarehouse, but this has been a fiasco. After two years, I still do not have any documentation or written confirmation of the contract. They debited my account for the cost of the contract years ago.

The entire day has been spent preparing my PowerBook for the Internet. The operating system needed to be upgraded, as well as software installed and configured. I am now up and running. The PowerBook is an older computer, purchased in 1995, and is very, very slow. Still, I have managed to attend to email, download files, and surf the web. This journal entry will have to be manually coded, as this little computer will not handle the Web Authoring Software. I am missing my base computer already.

It has been a quiet Saturday. Attila and I have been puttering around the house, working away on the chores on our do-this-someday list. It has been a long time since we have done anything but add items to this list; its length is impressive. We have crossed out quite a bit today and can now sit down to watch Henry V starring Kenneth Branagh and Derek Jacobi and a host of other talented actors. Kenneth Branagh always delivers a bold, physical performance. There is not much doubt as to his personal opinion of himself. There is something shockingly honest about all that vanity. Derek Jacobi will deliver a great performance as always. If Shakespeare wrote his plays to entertain, he succeeded. If he wrote them to enlighten or educate, he failed.

TVO, TV Ontario, has for many years hosted a program called Saturday Night at the Movies. Elwy Yost hosted this program for 25 years. Elwy retired last year and Shelagh Rogers has taken his place. Elwy was a great sort; he was childishly enthusiastic about the movies he aired and people he interviewed. No cutting commentary here, no biting wit. He liked movies, he liked people. He would always introduce the movies sitting up straight in an easy chair, smiling from ear to ear and sharing his bubbling enthusiasm for whatever movie was to be shown. Shelagh Rogers could be Elwy in drag; she sits like Elwy, talks like Elwy and smiles cheerfully like Elwy. She is a good choice as his successor, the audience will not have adjust to any jarring changes. I am sure there will be changes, they will occur imperceptibly over time. You can change anything you want as long as you do not make it obvious. Canadians like their programming that way.

I met Elwy once, twenty or so years ago. I was married and the mother of a young child at the time. We lived in a village in "Cottage Country". Muskoka was the playground of affluent Canadians, home of high seasonal unemployment. Pretty but flawed. I was taking my daughter for a walk downtown and as I walked by the grocery store Elwy came down the street in our direction. Now, at that time I have been watching Saturday Night at the Movies for years and recognized Elwy right away. I was so accustomed to his friendly cheerfulness that I gave him a big smile and a cheery "Hello Elwy," as he passed. He stopped to say hello and I could tell he was desperately trying to figure out if he knew me or not. We exchanged a few pleasantries about the weather and parted ways. He never let on he did not know me. Elwy is every bit as nice as he seems on television. I will miss him and wish him a happy retirement.