It's 05:00 Hours ...

... and I'm wide awake. A little groggy, but that's to be expected for someone who only hit the sack last night about 23:00.

Bloody insomnia. Won't let me have a full eight hours' sleep. There's always something that wakes me up in the middle of the night.

Anyway, at least I can work on something I've had in my mind since Monday, but can't discuss right now. Oh, and I got some more work done on Chapter Ten of my book. One part of that chapter's been completely rewritten. I suddenly realised I'd given the whole damn game away, and I don't want my character solving the mystery before you do.

Also, I got myself one of those plug in the wall battery chargers, and plugged in those big batteries that have been giving me such trouble. That was yesterday, around 18:00 hours. It's 05:00, about eleven hours in, and no sign of the little charging lights going out yet.

I guesstimate it might not be until 10:00, or even 12:00, today before they're done. After all, the guide which came with the charger described 2300 mAh rechargeables as requiring "12 hours" to charge up the first time ... and these problematic batteries I'm charging are 2700 mAh.

We can but wait and see. I just hope they won't need recharging in a hurry, even if they are being used in as power - hungry an appliance as my little Sebastian. At 2700 mAh, if these buggers work the way they're supposed to, and hold the charge for as long as they're intended, I likely won't need the charger again for quite some time.

I hope.

I should point out something I said to the man I bought the charger from, in Wrexham Cameras: "In life, there must always be a little risk, perseverance, experimentation."

And, hopefully, success. :)

Battery Update

The batteries in the charger feel hot to the touch.

I'm revising my guesstimate. I'm taking them off life support around 07:30. That's just 25 minutes from now, more or less.

They'll stand or fall then, on their own merits. I'll give the 2300 mAh batteries that came with the charger a bit of a juicing up later tonight, so I'll have the use out of them as well.

If the 2700 mAh Uniross batteries don't hold the charge, that's because they'll be faulty. Not because I used the wrong kind of charger.

Risk, perseverance, experimentation. :)

Another Battery Update

Until a few minutes back, my camera was running on a couple of non-rechargeable standard batteries. I was taking a few photos indoors, noting the little "battery low" indicator in the corner of the screen.

Then, of course, the batteries gave out, breathing their last milliwatts of power into the camera, just enough for one last photo and then it shut down on me.

So, those were the non-rechargeables. I got about twenty photos, in all, out of two. If this was a roll film camera, that wouldn't be too bad. But this is a digital camera, and you're expected a lifespan of several hundred snaps before your batteries cave in.

Still, they were a useful stopgap. But now, it's time for the real test.

The Uniross 2700 mAh rechargeable batteries.

I bought them for a staggering amount of money, cash I could ill afford at the time. I've now charged them up to their fullest extent (I hope) overnight off the mains.

And now, two of them are sitting in my camera.

I've taken a good couple of photos with them, and so far, all seems okay. The only test will be when I come back here and inform you that the batteries currently in Sebastian have discharged.

I'll report on how many photos were taken, and of course you'll see whether it will be weeks, days ... or mere hours or even :( minutes.

And if only days, hours or minutes, then it's the batteries that are at fault, and not the damned camera.

Tired

Lack of sleep. It's a blooming killer.

Last night it was a hag dream, too. It's normally bed shakers, but last night it was a hag dream.

The doctors all tell me that this is a symptom of nightly panic attacks, and something to keep an eye out for. But it's as real to me as though an ugly lump of black shadow really did detach from the corner of my room, sit on my chest like a lump of lead and begin sucking the breath out of me.

I'm in the library now. I just sent a bunch of stuff to the printer. I'm tired. I'm thinking of calling it quits really really early, heading off home.

Shopping

I need the following:-

- Bedding
- Pillows

- Febreze
- Bin bags
- A new floorbrush, mop and bucket

Sounds like a quick trip to the local poundland is in order today. :)