hello LJ, i wonder if you can help me...
I have a bunch of personal emails i would like to save, from my work email account. They reside in a .pst file on my C-drive, which i can easily copy and take away.
Will i be able to access these again in future, on another computer (not networked), or are they only accessible to my user profile log-in thing? (which will be disabled on Friday)
If i can only get at them by being this user on this network - how can i save them so that i can get at them?
Thank you

hello LJ. I have a question of grammar that i hope one of you can answer (because neither i nor my colleagues can) - when talking about a place, the place is sometimes a plural. Is it wrong to say "The fens are a place where... " because it goes from plural to singular?

so, you know i got that new shiny phone?

( boring internet access/cost questions...  )
hoping someone may be on Orange PAYG or just know. also, if it turns out that my "free internet" means limited access to social networking sites, what do you recommend for general internet stuff on phone? i'd like to be able to send emails, read LJ etc. ta.

ok maps, right, they're nice and portable. i'm looking at an area and collecting lots of bits of info about it, some here, some there, mostly less portable or at least less easy to look at than on an actual map.
what's the best way of adding notes and markers to an OS map to be carried around? i'm not too precious about it but think that maybe scrawling over it in ink, it'll just get messy and i might end up obscuring things, but is that the only option? pencil might not be visible enough. i have some mini post-it type things, but they'll probably fall off with folding. map-pins require the thing to be kept unfolded, at home... what do you do?

today i got the train back with a little light in the sky. everything was purple as we passed through hertfordshire, the sky, the fields, all purple. lovely. there was also a helper dog on the train which was rather in the way, sprawly and curious of other people, but it looked so nice. black labrador with quite a broad skull, thick-set.

i've started reading a collection of Susan Sontag's short writings on the train. as you know by now, i don't read much. reading about writing is hard work for me, because a) i inevitably haven't read any of the writings referred to, and b) i don't have a very big vocabulary. it's good though, two of the books she writes about sound amazing; Don Quixote and Pedro Paramo by Rulfo. i think i'll try and read them, although i suspect i'll find them 'difficult'.

i was thinking... when i was a child i would learn crafts, funny little skills. some i still know how to do, some i've forgotten. but learning to make things is something i'm relatively comfortable with. i don't have the patience for some things i've looked at (lace-making), and some things i just can't get the hang of (knitting) but i'm okay with most craft techniques. ok, so far so good.
i'm aware that my reading and writing skills aren't that great. i did read a lot as a kid, but only up to the age of fifteen or sixteen. i read easy stories, mostly young-adult and fantasy, things i could read really fast, to get to the story. i didn't do any humanities subjects past GCSE level, and i don't feel confident that i can articulate myself well in writing, or structure an argument. my critical faculties are blunt, with regards to writing, (i have more ideas and opinions viewing visual art). essays during undergrad were only produced under exam conditions, and i did precious little reading during that time. i would like to improve my reading and writing skills, so if you have any suggestions, ones that don't involve attending evening classes, please let me know. any nuggets of advice, clever tips, mind-opening reads etc very welcome.

a couple of friends are coming over to do the tourist thing for a few days. can anyone recommend a decent, cheap place to stay in London? an ordinary B&B or basic hotel. they are quite alarmed at the prices, and it's a bit hard to spot which ones are dodgy.

or perhaps somewhere a bit further afield that's nice, like in Brighton?

has anyone used a decent man/woman-with-a-van recently? if so what were their rates?
alternatively, does anyone have a hatchback and would be willing to help me move furniture on the weekend or a weekday evening?
what about just a normal-sized car?