Canon Camera Repaired

I had a letter in the post yesterday from Jessops informing me that my Canon digital camera was back from being repaired. We decided not to rush in and collect it yesterday, preferring to go in this morning. The weather was really cold and there was quite  frost, as well as fog. I don't like driving in fog. Just not nice. Carol is the same. She does most of the driving these days. We went up the A5 yesterday, to one of our favourite haunts, just beyond  Weedon, and called Heart of Shires. It must have been a farmyard in a former life, but is now a rather special shopping centre, with some rather pleasant little shops within it's perimeter, including clothes, toys, antiques and gifts of all sorts of descriptions as well as a restaurant, Darlington's, which I imagine must have been the farmhouse, when the site had an agricultural purpose. We had lattes and toasted tea cakes and spent a rather pleasant hour or so browsing the retail outlets. It was a cold day, but the sun was out. The A5 has several similar retail sites along it's route, another being just outside Towcester and yet another further down the A5, which we have visited several times. Also, a couple of garden centres which have a good selection of gardening items such as plants and flowers and from which we occasionally buy our Christmas trees over the past few years. You can drive along the A5 in preference to the M1, which is only a short distance away, but we prefer the A5 (or Watling Street) as the scenery through which it passes it far more interesting. For some reason motorways seem to be designed so you can't always admire the scenery they pass through, and you are expected to drive far too fast and other motorists (but not all) can be very aggressive and self-centred and not respect you. Not quite so bad driving along Watling Street. 

It was foggy as we drove into Milton Keynes centre this morning. We parked in Debenham's multi-storey carpark. We walked through the shopping centre and arrived near Middleton Hall and had coffee in Caffe Nero. As Carol is diabetic she has to have occasional snacks to prevent her blood sugar going too low. We went into Boots to try and get test strips for her blood sugar monitor, but they didn't have them in stock. Quite complicated as there are so many of these devices on the market and all having different systems that aren't interchangeable. By this time it was time to go to Jessops to collect the camera and took out an extended warranty on the Canon so that if it needs repairing over the next few years it will be repaired without need for further payment. Also, bought a spare battery which we put in the camera. Always quite handy to have two batteries when we go out for the day as one can be in the camera and the second one, if fully charged, is always there as back-up should the one in the camera use up it's charge. It only takes two hours to charge, unlike the more traditional rechargeable batteries the Fuji camera uses which take around eight hours for a full charge.

We got back to Debenhams and, as there was a sale on, Carol wanted to have a browse. She saw a rather nice coat and a dress in the Mantaray department downstairs which she bought, along with a lovely silver broach in the form of a dog which looks somewhat like Poppy. Once we'd finished in Debenhams we went back to the car and drove to Sainsbury's. The fog had got a good deal thicker when we drove out of the multi-storey car park and it was even colder and it was as well we weren't driving far.  On the television news we've been hearing of accidents in and around the area, particularly one involving a bus on the M40 near Oxford. A lot of these crashes are because people will simply not slow down in fog. They seem to think they're safe continuing to drive as if it's clear, bright sunshine, but then get caught out when they don't realise they can't see as clearly as they should and so run into vehicles ahead of them that are driving a good deal slower.  In Sainsbury's, whilst looking for a suitable joint of beef for Sunday's roast,  we couldn't see a suitable piece of a size big enough for just the two of us, so we decided to leave and go to Morrison's near the railway station and did our shop there. By the time we'd finished we were well and truly shopped out, having been out for around four hours.

After Christmas and Pre-New Year

Well, Christmas is over. It was on a Sunday this year and it seemed somewhat odd. No services at Milton Keynes Christian Centre. There were a couple of Carol services on Saturday afternoon, Christmas Eve, but it was decided not to have Christmas Day services, I think because they didn't think enough people would attend. We stayed at home and opened our presents. We watched a DVD, something that Carol wanted to see, 'The Secret Life of Pets,' a computer animated movie which was quite enjoyable. We'd been to see 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' on Thursday at the new Odeon cinema at the Milton Keynes Stadium. It's a sort of prequel to the Harry Potter movies and stars Eddie Redmayne. Hugely enjoyable and the special effects are amazing. Carol bought me a book on the art of the film, which I shall read with great pleasure.

Yesterday we visited Whipsnade Zoo as the weather was so mild. We went to a talk on giraffes at the giraffe house which was fascinating and all six of the giraffes, including the youngest were inside the shed where the talk was done, given by one of the keepers. It makes it so much more interesting if you know a bit more on a subject like this. We've visited Whipsnade on quite a few occasions as you will know if you read these blog posts. We had coffee and cake in one of the cafes. As Carol is a Fellow of the Z.S.L. (Zoological Society of London), who operate Whipsnade and London Zoos) and which allows us free access to these places, we also get a discount in their cafes and shops. We got some superb views of some of the animals and this was somewhat frustrating because my Canon camera is currently being repaired, otherwise we would have got some really great photographs to add to our ever-expanding collection.

On Monday we had a free trial session at Nuffield Health. We cancelled our membership of DW quite some time ago and we were eager to find a replacement. A much quieter and far more private health club with a good swimming pool, which is a good deal deeper than the swimming pool at DW, as well as a jacuzzi, sauna and steam room. We even get given towels which means they are always clean and dry. Generally a good deal more pleasant. So we decided we will join at the end of the month. Great to have somewhere to relax and swim every week.

Plenty to watch on television, as there always is over the Christmas period. We watched the Great British Bake Off Christmas special (although I can't say it was particularly special.) I avoided Strictly Come Dancing as I can't stand the audience noise (why on earth do they have to clap along to the music all the time? It's annoying and stupid. Also, the plain nasty comments made by certain members of the judging panel.) It's over hyped in the tabloid press and social media such as Facebook. At least Bake Off is more gentle, it's not full of so-called celebrities and it doesn't have a live audience who are wound up to react accordingly. It's as well we have a Sky Q box as otherwise we wouldn't be able to watch all the decent programmes. You can record at least four shows which are on at the same time as well as catch-up which is such a brilliant idea.

We've just been watching the documentary about Alan Bennet and his diary (the latest instalment called 'Keeping On Keeping On' has just been published and I will have to buy it, but it can wait until it comes out in paperback. I will need to read his earlier instalments so that's quite a lot of reading to get through.)

Carol's Eye Problems

Carol has been having real problems with one of her eyes. I have mentioned it in earlier blog posts. She had been given drops when she last went to the doctors a couple of weeks ago, but the situation seemed to get worse rather than better. It has been something of a concern, because she is diabetic. On Wednesday evening she wanted to get some medicated drops from the Boots pharmacy at Kingston, so we drove there. Unfortunately we hit some traffic going along Chaffron Way and spent around 20 minutes or so in a queue of cars from just beyond the roundabout after Waitrose to the roundabout at Kingston. Then it took quite a long time to find a parking space near Boots  but we soon got into the Boots pharmacy and got what she needed. On Friday morning the eye didn't seem to be clearing up so we decided a doctors appointment was needed. It was easier to go and wait outside the surgery in Beanhill rather than attempt  to get through on the telephone. It was cold standing outside the surgery but it was worth the wait because we were around the first to walk through the door at 8 a.m. and Carol was seen after no more than 15 minutes and we got a prescription which we took to Boots at Kingston and it was made up rapidly so we could get back home and in the warm house.

I had to go to Sainsbury's early this morning to pick up a repeat prescription for myself as well as Carol and get a few additional items such as milk and bread for the Christmas period. It wasn't as busy as I was expecting, fortunately.

Christmas Countdown

The term has finished at Milton Keynes Academy and Carol is now on holiday. The Christmas countdown has begun. We do have advent calendars. Carol has one with little doors, which, when opened, reveal erasers which have a Christmas theme. Those that have been released from the confines of the calendar are now arrayed in a line on one of our bookcases in our lounge. One, a Father Christmas, has an excessively red face, and makes you think of David Dickinson, the former presenter of Bargain Hunt. Another has a similarity to Donald Trump (unfortunately). It has far too much hair (much as the Trumper has. Is it real or is it a wig or hair piece? Infact, is he real? Having watched the television series on Channel 4, called 'Humans' about very realistic robots that are synthetic humans ('synths') it makes me wonder if Trump is one. He looks and sounds very unrealistic with that stupid wig and the way he speaks. Hard to believe that anyone intelligent would vote for such a person.

Anyway, returning to the subject of Christmas, we have completed our Christmas shopping and went to Aldi at Westcroft to do some food shopping this morning, bright and early. It's not only a good deal cheaper than your average supermarket (Sansbury, Waitrose, Asda or Tesco.), it's a much smaller store and you don't have the range of products, but, being smaller, the whole process is so much quicker. They even have checkouts which allow the person on the checkout to scan your shopping faster. It goes straight into your trolley and you then pack it into your own bags on a special shelf. A very simple but efficient method which other supermarkets should adopt. Last week we bought our turkey, but there was one problem. We found that there was insufficient space in our fridge/freezer, so we took out one of the plastic drawers and the frozen bird sits on the shelf inside. It's a tight squeeze, but it's either that or it defrosts, which would be a disaster, well before Christmas Day.

Dull and Dreary Day and Doctor's

Carol has been having issues with one of her eyes. She got something in her eye a few weeks back (you may recall, that is, if you follow this blog regularly.) She had been given drops to put in her eye. It cleared up, but then she's had what seems like conjunctivitis, a feeling of having something in your eye (I've had it, many years ago, so I have a good idea what it's like.) She got  over-the-counter drops in Boots and used it up, but yesterday it seemed to come back. She can't have time off work. They aren't too keen on staff having time off at Milton Keynes Academy. You can't get a doctor's appointment at Ashfield Medical Centre, unless you ring and explain roughly what it is you want the appointment for and then they get the doctor to ring and then access the need for a face-to-face appointment. All very well if you are at home, but how on earth are you supposed to do that if you're at work and particularly if you're a teacher, you can't very well ring up if you're in the middle of a lesson. I tried from 8 o'clock and had no success. It seems the telephones are permanently engaged. Then I had another go at around 10.40 and got through to the computerised switchboard. A series of menus to get through and then you get to a sort of queue. It said 'all our lines are busy. We are experiencing a high volume of calls. You are . . . second in the queue. Please be patient . . . you will be dealt with in a while . . .' etc etc. It took a further 10 minutes before I got to speak to a real, live human and was told they would get a doctor to phone. Another ten minutes . . . and a doctor spoke and I got an appointment for 5.20 this evening. Which means it will be after work. I then had to phone Carol on her mobile to give her the time of the appointment.

Today is one of those miserable November days, dull and dank, overcast, with a sort-of drizzle. It's a low-light sort of day, like early evening. 

Buying A Christmas Tree

On Sunday morning we decided it was time to go out and buy a Christmas tree. So many of the people we know on Facebook have photographs of their homes, decorated for the festive season, complete with all the decorations and central to all this, a Christmas tree! For the past few years we've made do with an artificial tree, but, to be honest, it's seen better days. It's in sections which have to be bent out and then all these sections slotted together. This is stored in the spare bedroom, along with a lot of other clutter. Having a look at this excuse for a Christmas tree, it certainly looks very shabby. So we came to the momentous decision to go out and buy a real tree this year. Our efforts to maintain a real Christmas tree has generally ended in failure. We buy them ready potted, and by the end of the Christmas season, they usually end up looking very miserable, because they loose most of their needles, all over the lounge carpet, and when we put them out in the garden, they survive a couple of months and then get taken to the tidy tip for recycling. We had usually gone to a garden centre up the A5 near Towcester to buy a tree. It occurred to us that if we didn't buy a tree soon there would be a good chance that we'd be left with the scrag-end of the bunch, the lonely, sad little runty Christmas trees that nobody wanted to buy, so Sunday morning we looked on line for the garden centre and it looked as if they were under new management and that they didn't sell real Christmas trees, which is rather sad when you think it's a garden centre. We definitely didn't want anther artificial tree. After some considerable thought we decided on visiting Dobbies garden centre to have a look at their selection of trees. We weren't disappointed. There were a few on display at the front of the main building as we got out of the car at the carpark. But we went inside and found they had a good many more at the back. You don't just have one type of trees nowadays, but several variety of fir, some which are supposed to last a good deal longer and some which don't seem to drop their needles. I'm not convinced that they don't, but it's surely to be expected when they are bought indoors and the heating in your home dries them out, hence the propensity to needle-drop. We went for a variety. The one we eventually chose had roots as we intend planting it out in the garden after Christmas. It came in a rather attractive pot. It was netted by a very helpful lady and we put it on a trolley and took it to the car. We then returned to the restaurant to have coffee and scones. (Yes, I know. If you read my blog posts regularly you will know that we have something of a love affair with scones!)

By now the place was heaving with people. I can understand why, because your average garden centre sells a good deal more than just plants and gardening items. They have a very well stocked food section at Dobbies where you can buy all types of food ranging from sausages, cakes, biscuits, wine and a good deal more. We left for home as Carol was eager to get the new Christmas tree installed in the lounge and decorated.

Digital Camera Malfunction and Christmas Shopping

My Canon digital camera decided to stop working. We wanted to take some photographs of Alfie, our Yorkie, but for some reason or other, the thing just wasn't doing what it should have done. I thought at first that the battery was flat. I had to find the confounded gadget which you have to use to put the battery in and then plug into the mains supply in order for the battery to be charged. This generally takes around two hours. When I looked at the battery the following morning I found the green light was still on, which showed that it was fully charged. It would have been orange showing there was no power in the battery. It was still green when I put it in the charging device. I put the battery in the camera and it didn't come on as it should have done. As a result we decided it should go back to the shop from where it was bought around a year ago, Jessops, in Milton Keynes Central Shopping Centre. We had other shopping we needed to do this morning, including our weekly grocery shop at Sainsbury's, but went into the city centre and took the camera with us. We parked in Debenham's multi-storey carpark and went in through Debenham's store. It was relatively customer-free when we walked through at around 9.30. Infact, the whole shopping centre seemed quite empty of people at that early hour of the morning. I suppose, considering it was a Saturday, it wasn't that much of a surprise. We walked in to the main centre and arrived at Jessops. We had searched for the receipt at home for the camera, as we realised that, if it was under a year old, it would still be under guarantee. Fortunately the young lady who came to our assistance was able to look at their computer system and she found the receipt. A neat bit of  computer technology, fortunately, which showed exactly what day it was we bought the camera. She removed the battery from the camera and said that she would put it on charge, so if we went off to complete our shopping and gave it an hour and a half or so, by the time we returned we would know whether the battery had charged or not. So we continued on our walk down the shopping centre, eventually arriving at the Middleton Hall end near John Lewis. We had a coffee and snack in Caffe Nero, opposite John Lewis. It was extremely busy, with a long queue virtually out of the door, but we were served relatively fast. From there we went into John Lewis, as there was quite a lot more we wanted to look for. I spent around 20 minutes browsing as Carol wanted time to search for my present and she obviously didn't want me with her. I had a browse in the electronics department, looking at, amongst other things, cameras, laptops and televisions. I saw an ultra HD television with a vast screen of well over 50 inches and was amazed at the clarity of the picture which was of animals on the veldt (supposedly) in Africa. You could almost feel you were there, see every detail of foliage, and hair, feel the wind blowing, it was that clear. Although I don't think I would want to spend almost £3000 on such a large television. It would take up most of one wall of our lounge. I eventually caught up with Carol and we then decided to walk back to Jessops. It turned out that the camera battery had not needed charging. I thought it might, because the green light on the charging device hadn't gone from 'orange', which would have indicated that it was out of power, to 'green,' indicating that it was fully charged. So the assistant took our details and said, as the camera was still under warranty it could be returned to Canon for repair. If it couldn't be repaired we would get a new camera as a replacement. I have to say I was really impressed by the customer service we received in Jessops. The assistant seemed very clued up as regards getting the camera repaired.  Which is more than I can say regarding Currys, where the customer service is virtually non existent. From Jessops we walked back towards Debenhams and had paninins and fruit juice in the resaurant.  Carol wanted to look for a dress in Debenhams and was rewarded  by her search and we bough me a rather smart new sweatshirt/top which will be another Christmas present.  From there we returned to the carpark and when we got out into the road we found the traffic building and headed towards Sainsbury's as we still had to do some grocery shopping before turning home.