Annoying Roadworks and Troublesome Tech

 Thursday 15th October. 8.15 p.m. We had our usual Thursday Morning Lifegroup Meeting, and, when I got home I wanted to go shopping and drove to Sainsbury's. But things did not go to plan, becaue there is a great deal of roadworks going on around the area where Sainsbury's store is located. I had gone to the Mobil filling station in Childs Way and then on through the centre towards Sainsburys. driving along Avebury Boulevard, where I encountered a traffic blockage. I cannot fathom out what the roadworks are for and there were traffic cones along the road near Sainsbury's. What really annoys me is, they cone off large swaythes of road which you can't use, but no sign of workmen actually working. So why cone it off if there's no work going on? I drive into Sainsbbury's underground carpark and then discover that I don't have the token to release a trolley. Somehow or other this has disappeared from my key chain, where it has been kept for such a use, so that I always have one for use at any supermarket and meaning I don't have to scrabble around for a £1 coin. So it meant I had to drive all the way back to Dexter House to hopefully find another token. I had to make a detour around the town to get back to Dexter house and there I could not find  the second token for the shopping trolley. I decided to go to Aldi instead and it took a further detour to get there.

Having done my shopping in Aldi, I thought it a good idea to walk along the parade of units to Curry's, because I wanted to by a cable to plug into my MacBook so it can be charged. It's a good chance to have a browse and look at the latest tech.

Saturday 17th October. 5.15 p.m. Yesterday morning I couldn't get the laptop to open. All I got when I opened it up was a completely blank screen. So, you can imagine the total stress I was under, because all my work, all my plays, are stored on the thing, although I have been gradually copying much of this material onto the new external hard drive. I was totally dumbfounded, and did not know how to resolve the issue. It obviously meant I was unable to do any work on any of the plays. 

I had the idea that, if I took the Macbook to the Apple store in Midsummer Place, the shopping centre next to the main Milton Keynes shopping centre, someone in there would be able to help fix the problem of the Macbook refusing to open up. So, I left it, sitting on it's usual table, next to my armchair. It had plenty of power. On Saturday morning, I think mid-way through, the thing opened up. I have an idea what the problem was; it had over-heated and it closed down until it was cool enough to work properly. But, even then, it closed down, this time becuse it didn't hqve enough power! So, I left it to charge. Later, I ordered ink cartridges from Argos and went and collected the thing a few minutes later. This does make life easier. 

June Is Bustin' Out All Over!

Okay, okay! Another blog post title quiz question. . . Where is this title from? Another musical . . . written by Rogers and Hammerstein. . . It's from their musical 'Carousel.' I actually thought it was from 'Oklahoma!', but after a Goole search, I found out my guess was wrong.

Saturday.7.10 a.m.  Yet another bright and sunny morning. It does seem that June is definitely 'Bustin'' out all over Oldbrook and further afield. Trees in full leaf. Flowers popping up all over the place. Birdies building their nests and fledglings taking their first flight. Goodness knows what else, but things are definitely bustin' out all over!

10.25 a.m. I decided I needed a hand mixer for use with my baking. Something simple, a hand mixer, which would make whisking up cake mix, batter, and other items far quicker and easier. I had a look on the internet, Amazon as a start-off, but so many brands that I haven't heard of, some cheaper than others and some definitely more than I was willing to pay. Then I thought of Argos and the fact I had quite a few Nectar points which I've collected through shopping in Sainsbury's and which I get with having a home contents insurance policy with Sainsbury's Bank. I had a look and then read the reviews of some of those hand mixers, the cheapest not having very good or at least, mixed (sorry about the pun! Just couldn't help it I'm afraid.) one saying it was liable to over-heat, so no good. I expected to pay a bit more, so I found a Kenwood model, a good brand, and supposedly reliable, so I decided on that one and at £22.99 seemingly good value. Multi-speed and you can store it with the whisks disconnected and stand on its flat base. So, it seemed ideal for my kitchen which has limited storage space.

I wanted to pay online and use the Nectar points and buy it through 'Click and Collect,' which I have done with some other items I have bought recently, such as my electric kettle, toaster, and more recently my food processor. It took several attempts to get the website to function and I had to pay 49p with my Debit card as the price of the food mixer was that much more than the number of nectar points would allow. Only possible to use £2.50 worth of points at a time if that makes sense. I eventually got the site to work for me, paid, and then an email to say that I could collect the item after 9 a.m because that was when Argos opened on a Saturday morning.

I needed to go to Lloyd's pharmacy in Sansbury's to collect a ready prescription, Beconase, which my doctor had prescribed when I mentioned the coughing I am experiencing at the moment and discussed during the telephone I had with her on Friday afternoon (I will mention this in the next blog post.) I also needed some shaving gel, because I had reached the end of the current pack and I cannot shave without gel, together with one or two other items. In and out relatively quickly and from there I had intended to drive to Argos, a short trip down Avebury Boulevard, or should have been until I discovered that the road was closed off due to work being done to construct a roundabout and traffic lights on the intersection with Avebury Boulevard and Grafton Street. It took me quite a while to work out a route to Argos, eventually driving further up Child's Way and going 180 degrees round the roundabout on Watling Street and then back towards the city centre and into the turning for Morrisons and through the car parks and park outside Argos. A good 20 minutes wasted in the process and several extra miles are driven somewhat unnecessarily, but I managed to collect the Kenwood hand mixer and return home, having completed the mission. 

later. I had been searching for cardboard bowls. For what purpose? Well, having made those scones I have mentioned in earlier posts, I found what I wanted in Sainsbury's this morning. I am giving them to my neighbours in Dexter House. I am putting the two halves of one scone in each bowl, buttered (actually it's Sainsbury's Olivia spread, but it's about as close to real butter and made of olive oil.) along with a teaspoonful of raspberry jam in an improvised kitchen foil container. I am attempting to be sustainable and environmentally friendly, having my containers fully recyclable wherever possible. My first delivery was to two tenants in the flat below me. I shall continue with further flats as the week progresses.

Now I have the mixer I want to experiment with other recipes. I have done scones before as well as brownies, which I may attempt once again and probably try something slightly more complicated, such as a fruit cake. I've made Victoria sponges, but I will need to buy some new baking tins and I think it's worth buying better quality, made of higher-grade materials because cheap, thin tins rust quickly and don't last as well as better, higher grade tins. It will be worth visiting T.K.Maax or Homesense, which is a subsidiary of T.K.Maax. You can buy some really good quality homeware items in both stores and at great discounts, up to around 60%. Never pay full price on anything if you can get something for a reduced price. 

Further Little Niggles

A further blog post about those annoyances that make life difficult or impossible and, without them, things would go just that bit better. Not just niggles, but also meanderings and whitterings. I shall publish this as it is, but add to it as the day goes on, so if you read this at 8.00 a.m. it is not going to be the same by the end of the day as I intend adding to it as the day progresses.

How about parking machines? I'm talking about those ticket machines which are set up, mainly by local authorities, which you are supposed to use when you go into town and want to park your car. They generally take One Pound coins and you put them into the slot provided and then, a couple of seconds later, they fall out the slot where your change comes out. Oh, on second thoughts, they don't give change, or, at least, those in and around the Milton Keynes Central Shopping Centre. Why is this? It seems a bit of a cheat, they would charge you if you didn't have a ticket in the first place, or you arrive back at your parked vehicle, having spent a small fortune in the shops, laden with packages. Is it your fault that your time was taken up in a queue in a certain store? Some old dear at the check-out, counting out her cash, a mountain of 1p and 2p pieces? Or people who can't find their debit or credit card, or some such similar hold-up? If you know you will need these items, why not have them handy, so there isn't a hold-up at the checkout? And, while we're on the subject of checkouts, if you use a self-service checkout, why do you have to have that awful voice which keeps telling you that there's an 'unexpected item in bagging area,' or having you every flaw shouted at you so the entire supermarket can hear. I don 't mind using the machines, but why have a voice, usually sounding like a grumpy old aunty shouting at you for misbehaving. Or mechanical voices in general. Another is in lifts. Who are they for? 'Doors opening' and 'doors closing,' Are they for the benefit of those with poor eyesight, the visually impaired (not supposed to say 'blind' as it's not 'Politically Correct.') Surely if you had a visual impairment, your hearing would be better than if you had sight, you would know well enough when the doors in a lift open or close. you would sense when this happens. You would feel the lift moving. it's just because THEY CAN put a mechanical voice in a list that there is one. And, a further thought, who records the voices in the first place? It's the same when you top up your mobile, the irritating female who is supposed to guide you through the operation. Is it some out of work Equity member who couldn't get a job working on EastEnders or who failed her audition for the R.S.C. or National Theatre. What a job! Standing in a recording studio and just saying 'doors opening' or 'doors closing,' how many 'takes' did they do to get the right inflection? Angry, pleased, frustrated?  You can only imagine. Why not do different voices for all of these? Or actors who work on radio shows such as 'The Archers.'

Why are the traffic lights in Milton Keynes so slow to change? There are several sets in and around the centre, along Witan Gate near Sainsbury's. You can drive along Witan Gate and then stop at each set. Surely they could be set so as to allow you to keep moving and not have to stop at the next set. Or is that too easy? The ones near Sainsbury's take far too long to change. There's no reason as the traffic along Witan Gate is generally not too busy. I usually go to Sainsbury's by going along Saxon Street (which is the main route from where we live in Eaglestone.) and then turn at the traffic lights near Debenhams and along Avebury Boulevard. The set of lights near Debenham's take an inordinately long time to change. Is it to allow busses time to come out from the stopping place they have near The Point? There has to be so reason. Surely no traffic lights should be set to hold up traffic for more than 20 seconds at the most. Just another little niggle.

I've been into the centre of Milton Keynes this morning. To go to the Central Shopping Centre. I manage to park in the surface carpark near The Point. Incidentally, why has this ironic Milton Keynes building been left to rot? The multiplex cinema complex behind is left empty. It looks in a really bad state. This was the first multiplex complex in this country. I know things move on, and we have a brand new cinema complex near the MK Stadium, but it seems scandalous that The Point, that pyramid-shaped construction which is a sort of symbol of Milton Keynes, along with the concrete cows, is at the point of no return. It looks scruffy and rusty. There used to be a nightclub inside it and when it was lit up you could see it for miles away, particularly when I lived in Bedford I drove over to Milton Keynes in my car at night, you could see it quite clearly on the hill from the road when you drove in from the Stagsden/Chichley/Newport Pagnall road.

A lot of black crows hanging around in the carpark. I've seen them several times when I park in that carpark. Quite creepy. They perch in trees as you cross the road into the shopping centre. It makes me think of the Alfred Hitchcock film 'The Birds.' Carol says she sees  similar birds hanging around the Academy and doesn't like walking past them. They are actually quite harmless, but being black and having that sort of gothic look, as well as long beaks that look as if they might give you a nasty peck, I can see why she doesn't like them. A sort of cliche used in movies and television dramas, suggest death, foreboding and so on. A sort of Hammer movie cliche I suppose. Short-hand for death and destruction.