MacBook Madness

My MacBook Air has been sick for the past couple of days. Yesterday morning I attempted to open up the Safari browser so that I could do some work, as I do most mornings. I've had this laptop for over three years. It was a birthday present from my lovely Carol, so it means a lot to me that it's in good working order. It gets a far bit of work, used for surfing the net and writing this blog. (Before you ask, this is being written on Carol's MacBook Air. I had to really think what the password was before I could get into it, but after some serious thought, I soon got it up and running successfully.)

I really had to scratch my head attempting to solve what what was wrong. I hadn't downloaded anything that might have conflicted with the browser. I restarted the MacBook,but still nothing. I didn't have anyone around with whom I could ask, such as my stepson, Daniel, who knows virtually all there is to know about computers and computing. After all, he should know, considering he went to Newcastle University to study the subject. But, as he's not here, I can't ask him. Then I had a brainwave. I know that Macintosh computers are used at Shenley Christian Fellowship, and that Ross Dilnot, Pastor, uses a MacBook, so I texted him and he said that he didn't use Safari and suggested I download and use Chrome. Which is what I did. It took a while to set it up and got it working successfully.

But later in the day I tried to get into the MacBook to do other work and then found the whole thing had frozen. It just would not do what I wanted. I attempted to reboot the thing, but nothing. It wouldn't even close down. So, after some thought, it occured to me that I ought to take it into the Apple store in Midsummer Place in the shopping centre in Miton Keynes. I could always just go in and enquite, but I might not be able to see anyone who could fix it, and maybe not until a few day's time. I thought it perhaps better to ring and get a definite appointment. I had to look for the telephone number using the smaller MacBook which had belonged to Carol. I found the number of the Apple store and then rang. Then I had to listen to what was obviously a computerised voice. Very convincing, but it made me think of either Alexa or Siri, the computerised voice 'helpers' on my Kindle Fire and on my iPhone and MacBook. You have to speak very clearly and deliberately, otherwise 'she/it' can't understand. It took a while to get anywhere, but you also have to know more or less exactly what it is you want and use simplified sentence structures. As it happened, 'it/she' couldn't understand and I was transferred to a human. A young man with a definite American voice. He didn't seem to know where Milton Keynes was and how far I was from the Apple store. I got an appointment for Friday at 1.45, and then I asked where he was. It turned out he was actually in America! I assumed when you rang the telephone number, which was definitely a Milton Keynes number, but would never think I was actually speaking to someone in America. Just shows the crazy technological world we live in. It was such a clear line, another benefit of how the technology improves things.

Friday morning. I packed up the MacBook Air in my newly-aquired computer case, which came from Amazon. I have to say I'm rather pleased with it. It's always a bit of a risk when you buy something on line, that what you see in a photograph on a website, a product doesn't always come up to expectations, which means you end up having to return it. Not so with this case. I bought a holdall from Amazon when I needed to take stuff with me to the John Radcliffe a few months ago when I had to have the stent procedure done, and that has turned out to be a good buy as well as more or less exceeding expectations.

I digress. I parked the car in the carpark near The Point. The appointment at the Apple store was for 1.45, so I had ample time to walk into the shopping centre and waste about half an hour browsing. I headed for Watersone's, not actually such a good idea, because me and books are like a magnet, and I have to be careful I don't buy something which takes my fancy. I already have a considerable stash of reading material, so anything I buy will merely add to that. But, as it happened, I didn't see anything that I would buy. I have ordered an Ian McEwan novel which I want to read called 'Machines Like Us' which sounded to me as if it would be something I would like to read, so I have ordered it through Amazon.

From Watersone's I walked through to Midsummer Place and ended up at the Apple store and signed in. It seemed extremely busy in all of the shopping centre. I couldn't see why, considering it was a Friday and the schools would have returned on Tuesday.

I eventually got one of the staff to have a look at the MacBook and he managed to get it up and running successfully, but when I got home some while later, it went back to not opening correctly, so it looks as if I will have to return to the Apple store to try again to rectify the problem.

Sunny and Warm

Goodness gracious! What's this? The sun is out. It's really warm. The past few days have been dull and overcast. On Wednesday it was foggy early and we had rain.

Wednesday we had to be at the Oncology Suite at Milton Keynes Hospital because Carol had the  beginning of the eight chemotherapy cycle. She wasn't due there until midday so we had time to take things slowly which was pleasant, not having to get up too early. We drove over to Rooksley as Carol wanted to visit Hobbycraft as she wanted to buy some crafting materials. As we parked the car near the store and got out to walk down to the entrance, Carol shrieked as she had seen a large rat. I looked down into the flower bed and saw the tail of a large grey rat scuttling away. I've seen several rats in Milton Keynes and had Alfie, or little Yorkshire Terrier, had been with us I'm sure he would have known how to deal with it. They say that you're always no more than six feet from a rat wherever you are. I can well believe that, considering how untidy people are, dropping litter and food which only attracts them. Not a pleasant thought.

The oncology suite was busy when we arrived. Unfortunately the carpark at the rear of the hospital, where we usually park, was full so I had to drive back to the front of the hospital and park in the ground-level carpark and walk back to the oncology suite. There seemed to be a shortage of nursing staff in the unit and again there was no receptionist on the reception desk as there was a few days ago when Carol had her blood test. The nurses are on the go all the time we are there. They never stop. I can never praise them enough as they do an amazing job and always do their jobs efficiently and exceptionally.

We had to go back to the oncology suite on Friday at around 4 p.m. so that Carol could have the pump she has removed. All seems to be going well and she has another M.R.I. scan on Wednesday and then a consultant's appointment on Friday so we should know what the next stage of her treatment is going to be.

I recently bought a Kindle Fire tablet, the HD 10 inch model. Considering the price, it is a really good piece of kit. Carol bought one a couple of years ago and she has been pleased with it, although by now it might be considered somewhat out of date, as all computing equipment has a limited life, when they keep on up-grading the operating systems they run on. I have downloaded the official Scrabble app and played this game on my own, versus the computer, but now Carol has the app on her Kindle and we have managed to play a game or two using both our Kindles. This will be good as a way to pass the time the next time we go to the oncology suite.

As I write this, it's Saturday afternoon and looking out of the lounge window I can see the sun is shining. The trees at the back of the house, all along the Redway, are beginning to come out in leaf. There is plenty of almond blossom coming out all over Eaglestone estate. The bird-feeder is busy with a wide variety of birds visiting, but I'm not so sure I want squirrels eating the food which is really intended for them. We've had two competing squirrels on the thing, doing their usual acrobatics. I think I'm going to have to buy a baffle to go on the upright to deter them.

Arctic Blasts

We've been promised snow, so it was something of a disappointment to wake this morning to find just  a mere dusting of the white stuff. Mind you, I had to walk across to the Academy around 9.30 to deliver a revised medical certificate and, by goodness, it was cold! My face almost froze solid. There's bright sunshine, but it's deceptive. It's just as well we don't have to venture out today, although I'm going to have to go to Sainsbury's later to do a bit of shopping as they're forecasting more snow around here for the rest of the week. Mind you, watching BBC Breakfast this morning, they seem to be milking the 'snow' bit for all it's worth. Hardly more than a few centimetres in places, mostly East Anglia and the North East of England, but is it really necessary to cancel train services and have schools closed for the day? A few weeks ago I wrote in my blog post about how people have become wimpish in response to the merest flurry of snow. Everything seems to grind to a halt when it falls. How come, in years gone by, schools managed to stay open, the railway system kept running and roads were kept clear? Now it's just an excuse to moan constantly about 'snow on the line' or 'ice on the tracks' or something really pathetic. Come on, where's the good old British resistance gone to? 'Health and Safety' gone mad! Just get out your shovel and broom and go out and clear the snow if it's stopping your getting to work or whatever.

When I drove to Sainsbury's mid-morning, there was signs of grit being put on the road. No doubt the Council workers had been gritting the roads around Milton Keynes last night. I personally don't see the point of putting down grit unless it's on top the ice or snow. Surely it doesn't melt it when it's already on the road surface. Who knows?

I've just bought a Kindle Fire tablet. I'm really pleased with it. Carol already has one, and finds it really easy to use. The price is very good, when you compare it with an iPad. It's already set up and working. I'm waiting to receive a case for it, from Amazon, which is expected to arrive sometime on Thursday. The Kindle Fire was ordered on Sunday and arrived yesterday morning.

Later. It's 2.05 p.m. It's snowing quite heavily (if you can actually have snow that falls heavily. Does it actually 'fall heavily'? I think not. Looking at it, through the window in the lounge and into the garden, it looks a bit like feathery bits, which wouldn't fall heavily. Feathers are light, so couldn't fall heavily. Infact, I doubt they actually fall, more likely float, depending on whether there's a breeze. Anyway, back on the subject of snow. If it continues as it is, it's very likely to settle. Then we'll be unable to get out in the car. Important tomorrow, as we need to get to the oncology department at Milton Keynes hospital to have the pump removed from Carol's arm as part of her chemotherapy treatment.

Even later. The snow stopped falling. As I write this, at 5.15 p.m., it's bright and sunny and there is absolutely no snow falling. No doubt we are going to get the full force of the cold weather with a fall of snow which covers the country, causing havoc with all transport. But it is February and we should be used to a cold snap in this country. It just annoys me that the media treat it as if it's totally unexpected.

Sixth Chemotherapy Cycle

It's a bright and sunny morning, but the weather is forecast to become really cold with snow in some areas of the country. So, there's really no excuse for the trains to be delayed, the motorways to become blocked and the country to, generally, grind to a halt. I think it's going to be considerably colder than it has been of late. The car is ice-free when I looked out of the kitchen window earlier.

We had to drive to Ashfield Medical Centre to collect the revised medical certificate for Carol. It was busy as I queued at the reception desk. It took a relatively long time before I actually reached the desk and got what I'd come for. Then, at the point when we were about to leave the carpark outside there was a blockage because someone insisted on not moving out of the way to make my exit straightforward.

Then we drive straight to the hospital and the oncology suite. The carpark immediately behind the unit is full, so I have no choice but to drop off Carol and the drive back towards the front of the hospital and park in the ground level carpark there. I'm fortunate in finding a space immediacy inside the carpark and then walk back around the hospital campus to join Carol in the oncology suite. We've become well organised with each visit, bringing a bag from Waitrose (one of those 'for life' bags.) which contains the MacBook Air which this is being written on, as well as a couple of books and snacks. Carol is ensconced in a corner, and by 11.15 she has had her blood pressure taken. A perfect reading. It is relatively peaceful and there aren't that many other patients in the unit this morning. Carol says she's hungry. We eat a couple of Club biscuits. Those rather nice treats which have a thick layer of chocolate on them. These have a slight minty flavour. I make Carol some frothy coffee. We bought her Waitrose reusable coffee mug with us along with a sachet of Nescafé latte which I take to the kitchen in the suite and make it up using hot water from the drinks trolley. You can make your own tea and coffee as required, although we often go to the hospital restaurant to have Costa coffee or at the Costa shop near the hospital entrance., although it's a long walk to visit that.

I've finished the book 'Watling Street' by John Higgs. A bit of a disappointment. Something of a curate's egg. Good in parts. Then I read one of the Sherlock Holmes short stories from the annotated set. This one was 'The Naval Treaty,' and then 'The Final Problem' which is the one where Conan-Doyal 'kills off' Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls. It's written in such a way which leaves it unclear as to what actually happened. Did Holmes die, having been in a struggle to the death with Professor Moriarty? It's definitely inconclusive. Actually a bit of a disappointment. Conan-Doyle obviously wanted to be done with Holmes. He had other irons in the fire with other writing. But it's left open at the end, no doubt with the intention to possibly bring back Holmes in more stories, which he does after around eight years.

Carol is now on the first drip, which is glucose, which takes an hour, and then the actual chemotherapy which lasts two hours.

I've started reading Alan Bennett's latest book, 'Keeping On, Keeping On.' Having read his earlier books, it seemed a must to read the latest work. I've been a fan or his work for years, first coming across his plays on BBC television in the 1970s.

I went to the Friends' Shop to buy us both rolls for our lunch. These rolls are wrapped in such a way that they are virtually impossible to get into. The iced buns in such a way that the icing comes of on the inside of the very noisy cellophane wrapping. But they're a necessity as we get quite hungry as we sit in the oncology department for around three hours or so.

It's generally quiet in the oncology suite today, apart from the pumps which deliver the chemotherapy and the occasional 'bleeping'of their alarms which is to alert the nurses to the fact that one or other of these machines needs attention, a blockage or something wrong. Little green lights that appear to move along to show the machines are working, but then the bleeping noise and red lights to indicate that these things are working as they should.

I'm writing this as I sit with Carol in the oncology department. One of the advantages of having free wi-fi within the hospital campus. It means that what I write is more what I'd term 'free-form' as I'm writing 'live,' rather from memory, which this blog post would be if I wrote it later and from memory.

Carol eventually set up with the chemotherapy, so it's a good two hours as it goes through. Then, at the end, they do a flush to clear the line she has in her arm and then she's set up with a pump which she has for a couple of days and then comes back on Wednesday to have to removed.

When we had got home there was a card stuck in the door. We'd had two parcels delivered. I knew one had been delivered because I'd had an email which I had read when we were in the oncology suite and I had the laptop connected to the wifi. I had ordered a brand new Kindle from Amazon and it was due to be delivered today. It had apparently been received 'by the resident' as the email said. I couldn't have been, as I wasn't at home. It had been put in the bin cupboard. Rather precarious, even though the door was well and truly shut. There was  second card, which was on the floor inside the house near the letter box. Carol has a subscription to an art part-work and several of the books, on various artists, had arrived and had been left in the bin cupboard along with the Amazon parcel. Both parcels were opened and the contents either read, or, in the case of the new Kindle, set up and charged.

Watching Amazon TV Series 'The Man In The High Castle'

Besides having Sky as our 'television provider' we also have Amazon Fire, which is linked to Amazon Prime. A couple of years ago Carol bought a Kindle Fire, and as part of the deal, we got Prime free, which meant we got anything we purchased through Amazon came with free delivery as well as Amazon's 'on demand' television service. When the first year ran out we had to decide whether to continue with it and pay £79 a year and to purchase a Fire Stick. This we did and set up the Fire Stick which connects to our Sky wifi router. You then get a wide range of 'apps' which allows you to watch television shows and films free but also some which you have to pay for through the Amazon account. There are quite a few similar services besides this Amazon service, including Netflix. We can get the main channels 'on demand' such as BBC, through their iPlayer as well as Channel 4, Channel 5, as well as a few more besides. Very good, except you can't download and keep the programmes as you can with your Sky+ box. I'm not sure whether the newer Fire box which Amazon recently introduced allows this, but it costs a good dea than the Fire Stick (which I originally bought from Argos and costs around £34 which, considering what it does seems very reasonable, particularly if you don't have Sky, Virgin or any of the other 'television providers.') We used to have Freeview at this address but found that, because we didn't have an outdoor ariel, the signal was poor. So we looked around for a solution and found that Sky was perhaps best. It was when we were searching around that we discovered that Virgin wasn't available in this area because Milton Keynes, although a modern city, didn't have a cable network to carry the Virgin television or telephone network.

It's great having Television 'catch-up' services such as iPlayer and similar as you can not only watch programmes you might otherwise miss when they are originally broadcast (usually up to a month.) but there is quite a lot of what I'd call 'back-catalogue' material. We've watched 'Doc Martin' through the Fire Stick which also means you can miss the advertising. We did start watching 'Downton Abbey,' having recorded episodes on the Sky+ box but the adverts we so annoying and irritating that we didn't bother to watch any further episodes but eventually caught up with the final series when it was on the I.T.V. 'player.' It now appears that all six series are on Sky+ 'box sets.' With Netflix producing a remake of the B.B.C. series "House of Cards" with Kevin Spacey in the lead role, and the fact you can 'binge' watch all the episodes and don't have to wait a week before the next episode is available to watch, you can see why companies such as Amazon are making their own television shows for 'instant' download or steam. (Incidentally, I was a 'Walk-On' in the BBC version of 'House of Cards.")

I am currently watching an 'Amazon Original' series called "The Man In The High Castle." It's based on a novel by Philip K. Dick, who is best know for writing the novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep," which was the basis for the film "Blade Runner." That film was directed by Ridley Scott, who is also Executive Producer of "The Man In The High Castle." I am enjoying this series immensely. It is set in an alternative future where the Nazis won the Second World War and rule America jointly with the Japenese. This shows that television can beat cinema when it comes to story-telling because you can the time, over 10 hour-long episodes, to allow the narrative to breathe and characters to develop over time, which you cannot possibly have with a film which for no more than three hours.

This is dark and brooding and has a real chill to it. I think it's because it's believable. We know that the Nazis obviously didn't win the war, but this could so nearly have happened. It's this that gives it the edge. Only only criticism is that many of the scenes are in almost impenetrable darkness, to such an extent that you can barely see what's going on. I realize that this under-lit quality adds to the suspense and atmosphere, but it doesn't really help that you can't see clearly what's going on. I do like the fact that you, as the audience, has to actually work hard to make out what's going on, they don't give everything away. I like being able to make conclusions for myself. A lot of modern television and cinema is far too obvious. It's almost as if the makers assume you don't have the intelligence to work things out for yourself. It have a certain cinematic look, well photographed and the set design and costumes are well executed. I would imagine they had a fairly large budget to be able to give it that 'look.'