Friday.7.00 a.m. I woke a lot later than usual, so it took me longer to get going. You know what I mean, not exactly 'with it', but, there again, not 'without it', either. Alfie barked and made a strange noise, which sounded as if he had bronchitis. Not his usual loud barking, but we still managed to get outside.
Friday. 8.20. Another bright, but not necessarily warm, morning.
Yesterday morning I had a bit of survey work to do. I do many of these online, and I've earned quite a bit in either cash or vouchers, mostly Amazon vouchers. This was actually done in a place in the centre of Milton Keynes, Margaret Powell House. (Incidentally, who was or is Margaret Powell? Her name seems to pop up all over the place around Milton Keynes. I will have to do some research and then let you know here.) Anyway, this session was to test pizza (I'm not going to go into any more detail than that.) There were quite a few other people signed up, and we were given pieces of pizza to taste and then evaluate via a survey done online (as most of these are done.) It took around an hour, and I've been paid with a £20 Amazon voucher, which came in an email earlier this morning. I participated in two online communities during the past week, one on insurance and another on pet food. Again, I won't give any more details than that. I have done several of these, where you spend a week or a few days discussing things, uploading videos or photographs and answering questions. I am still waiting for payment for both of these, but I trust they will send me my vouchers within the next week or so.
I have been looking for a new digital camera that will not only take still photographs, but also video. It seems that these cameras have developed to such an extent that the quality is incredibly good. I bought a Canon digital camera at the time I officially retired, as a sort of present to myself. It is good, but being over seven years old, it is somewhat limited. It will take digital video, but I haven't really tried it out to push it to its full potential. Now there are people who vlog, that is, upload videos to YouTube. I have watched a lot of this material and can show it on my Hitachi HD television by using an Amazon Fire Stick. I have looked at Canon and Sony digital cameras, some come as part of a kit, whereby you get a camera, but also a microphone, a special light and a tripod, so you are more or less ready to shoot 'out of the box.'
I have since found that you can have a similar kit for your mobile phone, which comes with a mini tripod which allows you to attach your phone and connect a small LCD light and microphone. So, I found one on Amazon, the brand being Rode, a reputable brand and I ordered it, and it was delivered yesterday evening. I have to say, when you buy on Amazon, particularly this type of item, you are inundated with a vast array of similar items, not just the more reputable brands, such as Rode. There is the temptation to buy a cheaper, possibly, unknown brand, which, once you receive it, turns out to be of very cheap quality, most likely made in China, and not up to scratch. They seem to think it's fine to make an inferior copy of a reputable brand, without any respect for patents or copyright. You then discover that it doesn't deliver on quality in any area, and probably fails miserably, probably falling apart after only a couple of uses, probably because they cut corners and use poor quality materials. The Rode vlogger kit I ordered seems made of quality materials and engineered to high standards.
As with so much of what you buy these days, the instructions you get are very basic. In some cases, if you go on YouTube, you can find a video which gives good instructions on how to set up most gadgets. I managed to put the Rode vlogger kit, but not to complete it. But this morning I found out how to finish it and I'm more than pleased with it. Now to do some filming. I'm not sure what as I write this.
Earlier in the week, my FitBit failed. At first, I thought it hadn't got enough power, but the screen went like an old-fashioned television, with lots of lines and the clock face showing up behind these lines. It just wasn't going to resolve itself, so I went on the FitBit website. I wasn't entirely sure whether it had been registered, but I discovered I had bought it back in February, having got it through the Argos website and, fortunately, there was a record. I didn't have a paper receipt. I got on the live 'chat' and the agent told me I could have a replacement. So I filled out my address via an email I was sent and will now await the replacement's delivery. But now I am without any sort of wristwatch because I have been using the FitBit's time-keeping facility and I don't know where my red Casio G-Shock wristwatch has gone.
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