New MacBook

Wednesday. 1.35 p.m. I now have a brand new MacBook Pro. Completely paid for and up and running successfully. In fact, this blog post is being written on that laptop. I had an email from Milton Keynes Council last Tuesday, telling me to ring and speak to a lady in what is called the Income Department. On Wednesday I did just that, and it appeared I was owed a credit, I'm not quite sure what for, but I hadn't been paid whatever it was. I gave my bank details (and thinking about it later I began to wonder if I had been wise to do such a thing, considering how spams work and how easy it would be for a criminal to extract money from your bank account.) It was a sizeable amount, so my first thought was 'good gracious! It means I can buy a brand-new laptop!' This, as I've mentioned before in these blog posts, is because my MacBook Air has come to the end of its working life. I can't upgrade the operating system, and it's become very slow and difficult. I still wasn't sure whether it was real or not, so I kept looking at the balance on my Nationwide account. Yesterday (Tuesday) I went online, and the money was in the account. So, I did some research online regarding MacBooks and eventually went on the John Lewis website and ordered a new model, more powerful than the old model, and this morning I got an email telling me it was ready to collect. So, I went in and collected it, via the John Lewis customer collection department. I had to migrate data from the old MacBook to the new one, which took a couple of hours, which means virtually all my files are on this new one. It was a really simple and easy process, and I'm surprised how well it went. There are one or two websites that I visit regularly which need their passwords put in, but apart from that, everything went well, fortunately.

I am currently watching my box set of the sitcom 'Allo, 'Allo.  I have had it sitting on my bookshelf for the past couple of years. I watched the first episode, but I haven't watched any of the other episodes. I have watched the occasional episode,  when they were shown on various channels over the years, but never from the beginning and in chronological order. I have never seen any of the first series. I have a connection to it, as I did walk-on work on the second season, spending around a week in 1985, when exterior scenes were filmed around Norfolk and on the outdoor set which was constructed in a courtyard at  Lynford Hall, which is now a hotel. The BBC created the courtyard to become the village square and the exterior of Rene's cafe.

Thursday. 12.10 p.m. It's surprisingly warm and sunny. You could almost say 'spring-like' if you were so inclined. I suppose so, but we're in early January.

I have ordered what is called an 'over-bed' table from Amazon. Not that it will be used 'over-bed.' It should allow me to sit in my armchair and write on my MacBook Pro as well as use it to eat my meals. I don't have a dining table, so it should make life somewhat easier. It's due to be delivered sometime today, well, at least before 10 p.m.

The best bit of news is that more of the covid pandemic restrictions are to be lifted after 26th January. Including not having to wear muzzles, oh er! I mean face coverings. We're supposed to wear the wretched things when shopping, but for me, it's made more difficult because my glasses keep steaming up. You can't communicate properly with them on, almost impossible to have a decent conversation with someone and virtually impossible to 'read' a person's face. So, it's excellent news. Let's just hope that this is the end of the confounded pandemic, or at least, near enough. I might well mean we have to live with the virus and not keep being locked down. 

4.35 p.m. The over the bed table has arrived. Usually, when I get a delivery, the van driver will call me on the intercom from the front door of Dexter House, but this time someone in the front office telephoned me to tell me I had a delivery. Which meant I had to go down and pick up the package. It doesn't really matter, but you would think a delivery driver would have some sort of idea how to contact the recipient of a parcel. Now to construct the table. I'll let you know how I get on, but surely it can't be too difficult to put together. I trust it has instructions within the package and they're easy to read and there are no pieces missing.

6.20 p.m. The table is built! It wasn't as difficult as I was expecting. The worst part is screwing the various pieces together with an Allan key (I think that is the correct name.) You can never always manage to turn the screw through a complete turn, but do it in small increments. Lots of packaging, polystyrene and plastic bags which contain the various screws and tiny bits. The secret I find when working on these self-build bits of furniture (or 'flat pack if it's IKEA or the old MFI furniture. By the way, whatever happened to MFI?) is to put these pieces in a box or plastic container so they don't get lost. As I say, the thing is built and ideal for taking the MacBook so I can work.