Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 5-12-2020: Hispaniola

5th December, 2020.

Right … about the laptop I’ve borrowed from my landlords … ?

I’ve still got it … obviously!

But I’ve had a representative from them phone, yesterday afternoon: and hopefully phone back, on Monday afternoon.

To try and help: by taking remote control of the machine, and seeing what he could do.

Not a lot, actually.

It still needs the user password to install the needed software.

Something he couldn’t enter remotely: in part, because he couldn’t see the password window, remotely.

Nor could he just give me the password: understandable, given the security issues.

He’s going to be phoning back on Monday … once he’s got permission to give it to me.

We’ll have to see what happens.

~≈◊≈~

Did I mention I like a good read, occasionally?

I like a good read, occasionally.

Right now?   My book at bedtime is a collection of Arthur Machen short stories called The White People and other Weird Stories.

It’s interesting stuff: and you can see how it inspired H. P. Lovecraft.

What is grabbing me … ?

Is simply the cover.

This particular edition is a Penguin Classics one.

With a beautifully textured cover that makes reading it a pleasure.

And the book, itself, a beautiful thing to hold. 

~≈◊≈~

Let’s move on, shall we? Yesterday’s Teaser saw Trevor*, Olga†, Mum‡, Debbi^ and Edithª putting in their answers: with Trevor, Olga, and Debbi scoring five out of five, and Mum and Edith on three.

Let’s see how everyone does with today’s questions, shall we?

Here they are, along with the How To, License and video …

Q1)        5th December saw Christopher Columbus arrive at the island of Hispaniola.   In which year: 1492, 1493 or 1494?

Q2)        The island’s in which sea: the Sargasso, Caribbean or Mediterranean?

Q3)        Hispaniola is home to two sovereign nations.   Name either one.

Q4)        Name either country’s capital.

Q5)        Finally … ?   Hispaniola is part of which archipelago: the Leeward Antilles, Lesser Antilles or Greater Antilles?

Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1)        4th December is National Cookie Day.   Where: the USA, UK or the People’s Republic of China?

A1)        The USA.   (Apparently, 30th December is the USA’s National Bicarbonate of Soda Day.   What?)

Q2)        4th December is the feast day of Saint Ada, the patron saint of whom: nuns, monks, deacons or vergers?

A2)        Nuns.

Q3)        The Unity module was launched: on 4th December, 1998.   It was the second for which station?

A3)        The International Space Station.

Q4)        4th December, 1875, saw the birth of Agnes Forbes who: Baldrick, Percy or Blackadder?

A4)        Noted dermatologist, Agnes Forbes Blackadder.   She also wrote the book on the therapeutic use of music in hospitals.

Q5)        Finally … ?   4th December, 1964, saw the birth of actress, Marisa Tomei.   In which film does she play Mona Lisa?

A5)        My Cousin Vinny.

Here’s a thought …

“It is the most populous island in the West Indies and the region's second largest after Cuba.”

From the Wikipedia article about Hispaniola.

And a song …

Today’s questions will be answered in tomorrow’s Teaser.

Feel free to share today’s video Teaser.

Have a good day.

*        That’s a very good point, Trevor, we’ll have to ask her … 

†        Yes: I’ve got a copy of GIMP, Olga, which lets you do the same sort of thing.   It needs patience … and the zoom button.   But does let you colour stuff in, so to speak.

Oooh!   Congratulations on the certificate!   That’s the one that lets you take ESOL classes, wasn’t it?   Good luck with them!

(Did I mention I have copies of the original Dr Mabuse movie?   I’d not watched them, as the files were twenty-seven and twenty-one gigabytes, respectively: bigger than the space on my hard drive!   I’ve managed to boil them down, though!)

‡        Hello, Mum!   (That’s a thought, Mum, didn’t you say you did a film course, many years ago?)

^        Ooooh … I’ll have to keep an eye peeled for that, Debbiº!   And, I know I’ve said this before, but Sir Terry’s Watch novels are police procedurals.   Night Watch is a time travelling attempt to catch an escaping killer.   Feet of Clay’s sees the team trying to foil an assassination attempt.   Oh, and this will tickle you.   The Fifth Elephant’s a murder-mystery: with theft, right-wing werewolf terrorists … and a police strike.   Oh, and wheel clamps … (And did you know crime writer, Val McDermid’s a Terry Pratchett fan?)

ª        That he was, Edith: I’m going to have to catch up with those, I think.   Oh, did you ever read Terry Pratchett?   He’s worth a go, I think.   (The watch novels are interesting, I think.   But The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents may grab you.)

º        Oh, Jingo’s another one, Debbi: Sam Vimes, the main character, gets to arrest a war criminal.   His boss, in other words.