Sunny Saturday

 Saturday. 8.25 a.m. I haven't quite got the hang of using and operating the DJI Pocket. I didn't actually record any footage when I walked around Oldbrook Green, but I have since discovered that you have to give the record button a couple of presses to make it work. I know it sounds simple, but you only discover this sort of detail when you find YouTube videos which teach you how to operate the camera. You get an extremely basic instruction leaflet with the gadget (I think this is the case with most devices today.) Also, merely playing with the various buttons on the device to find out which one does what. I am now discovering how the wireless microphone connects to the camera. It uses Bluetooth and WiFi to connect. Another YouTube video explains the procedure.

As the title of this post suggests, it's a sunny day. What more can I say on the subject?

4.00 p.m. I have been out once more with the DJI Pocket and been around Oldbrook Green. I have now viewed the footage, and I'm more than pleased with the result. I didn't have the wireless microphone attached, although I have discovered how to connect it, having viewed a YouTube video on the subject. The secret of using a camera with a gimbal is that, don't play around with the settings. Once you have it how you want it, leave it alone. I had the camera facing away from myself, and the gimbal managed to keep the horizon level. Perhaps I should hold the device a little bit higher, but that's a minor point. I think if the manufacturers were going to make any adjustments to the DJI Pocket, or any of their next generation, to make the handle more rounded, so it's comfortable to hold.

Sunday. 8.25 a.m. I have now managed to extract the microcard from the DJI Pocket 2 put it into the adaptor and into the reader, and then plug that into my MacBook. I have to say that removing the card is very fiddly and because it's so tiny, no bigger than the nail of my little finger, and, if you're not careful, it could easily spring out and then shoot across the room and get lost. But I have managed to watch the footage I took when I walked around Oldbrook Green yesterday, and I'm more than pleased with the result. For a first attempt, it's better than expected, and I have high hopes for using it for future work.

4.05 p.m. We had Café Church this morning. I was doing the usual refreshment thing. There is a new coffee machine installed in the café area. It produces a range of coffee, latte, Americano etc. It's easy enough to use. It has coffee syrup in cartons inside and a touch screen to select what a customer wants, so it's easy to use and more or less foolproof.

Monday. 3.00 p.m. I need to have video editing software so that I can manipulate the footage I film on the DJI Pocket. I did a Google search and I discovered that my MacBook has it's own software for that purpose, called iMovie. 

Tuesday. 7.45 a.m. I am definitely sleeping a good deal better than I have been. I think the sertraline tablets are partly responsible. 

Yesterday I started to transfer some handwritten material into word processing. I was looking through all that I had written, which is in various notebooks, and I discovered some which hadn't been transferred. I'm editing as I go through it.

The day has begun and the conditions on the weather-front looks as if it's overcast and, according to BBC Breakfast weather, it looks as if we can expect rain later in the day.

Is It A Wonderful Life?

Thursday. 7.45 a.m. Out a bit after 5.30 a.m., basically because I woke up and then immediately went back to sleep. Not such a good idea, but we did a circuit of Oldbrook Green as I am determined to get back to doing at least 10,000 steps. The FitBit is a good motivator, particularly as you get a weekly report emailed to your inbox every week. According to that, I am not doing as many steps as I have done previously. 

I am attempting to do more recording, using the MacBook Pro. I am doing various well-known poems, but making sure they are well out of copyright. Such pieces as 'The Hunting of The Snark', 'Matilda,' (No, not the Roald Dahl story, but the one about the girl who couldn't stop telling lies.) It has to be one of my favourites. I have already got one uploaded onto Soundcloud, so let's see what else I can record and upload. I have found that this flat has good acoustics for recording, thankfully, but I think I will have to wait until the workmen have finished around Dexter House. I don't want banging and crashing noises in the background of my recordings. I don't know if the microphone will pick it up, but for me, it's very distracting.

4.00 p.m. We still have workmen banking and crashing all over Dexter House. I think they are upgrading the doors between the different areas along the corridors. It's just noisy, and it will be great when it is completed. Would be better if they used rubber hammers.

I'm going to Worcester next weekend, but Alfie isn't coming with me. It's very difficult to concentrate on the grandchildren or have a decent conversation with Chloe and Steve because Alfie takes over, barking and generally wanting attention all the time. It was difficult when I went there at Christmas, and even with him corralled in the utility room with a childproof gate installed so he couldn't get out, he still made a lot of noise. I think most of this is because we've been on lockdown together for two years, and he's had me to himself and he's become more determined to get my attention. So, I wanted to find someone to look after him for the duration of my time away. I eventually got an email put out from church and someone came forward and I took Alfie to meet her this evening. I have written a sort of care plan, giving details of his needs and requirements, as well as his quirks. So he will be taken there next Friday and I can drive to Worcester on my own. Mind you, it will be strange not having him around, but certainly, be good to have time to relax without being barked at!

Friday. 6.20 a.m. A rather overcast morning, but it's still warm here in Milton Keynes. Alfie and did a circuit of Oldbrook Green.

8.10 a.m. We now have a second replacement washing machine! Oh, the excitement-not! I went to do a load of washing and found the new machine in place, but I had absolutely no idea how to operate it. It has a digital touch-screen, but I was wary of the wrong setting, and as a result, possibly ruining my clothes by setting the wrong temperature, so I had to ask Barbara to show me. The first setting was for an hour, but I wanted a shorter programme, and it was set for 20 minutes. I just don't want to have to wait an hour before I can unload the machine and put everything in the tumble drier.

10.25 a.m. A man has been to my flat to do a survey for asbestos, which is being done as a preliminary for a new kitchen to be fitted. So, hopefully, and I definitely mean hopefully, if all goes according to plan, I should get a shiny new fitted kitchen. The floor leaves a lot to be desired, as there is an area where the tiles are coming up and is, frankly, a trip hazard. Let's just hold our breath until I get some sort of notification that work is going to be done. Well, if other people within Dexter House have had their kitchens done, I think I can safely say that I can't be too far up the list to have mine done. Then, possibly, hopefully, they might come and sort out my bathroom.

Once the man had finished doing the survey of the flat, I took Alfie out. It has been raining, but hardly a heavy downpour, but, nevertheless, we got a bit of a wetting.

Freedom Day . . . At Long Last!

This is the day we've been waiting for. All the ludicrous restrictions we've had to live under for the past two years are being abandoned. Let's say it; the pandemic is over, although Boris Johnson has said that the coronavirus hasn't gone away. Let's just say, it's hiding. We have to learn to live with it. 

It may be 'Freedom Day' if that's what you want to call it, but we now have all this overshadowed by the Ukraine Crisis with Russia threatening to invade that small country. Vladimir Putin making out it's their fault, and they're the aggressor. All this is done to deflect things from problems within Russia, mostly financial.

Thursday. 9.45 a.m. I have just got back from taking Alfie out for one of his walks and, as we walked along the path that runs beside Strudwick Drive, I notice a bright yellow pencil that looked as if it has been thrown away. Nothing wrong with it, an ordinary Staedtler wooden pencil, HB grade. I'm thinking, 'I'll have that!" So I picked it up and put it in my jacket pocket. But further along, I picked up more and in total there were 10 of them. I just hope they were thrown there by a pupil from Milton Keynes Academy or even the Primary school which is just over the road. Are children so stupid as to throw away stuff they are given to use in their lessons? I know some children don't have such items given to them by their parents as they don't have the income to afford such items as pens, pencils and other things, so why waste these by throwing them on the grass. There are children in Africa who would be pleased to have even a scrap of paper to write on or a pencil to write with. I don't think the children around here realize how lucky they are to have even the basic things free of charge for use in their education.

Perfectly good pencils, rescued from the grass along Strudwick Drive this morning. Just a waste to throw them away.

7.30 a.m. As I've mentioned in earlier blogs, I have upgraded my MacBook and now have a MacBook Pro. I'm more than pleased with it. I'm really surprised how thin and light it is, compared with my MacBook Air. I had been searching online to find some way of recycling it and, hopefully, get a fair price for it. This morning it has been collected by a courier from DPD, packed it up in a sealed box and is now gone. It was in excellent condition, mostly because it has had a plastic cover. I had managed to remove the bottom cover, but not the top one. Which shows how effective it has been in protecting this laptop.  I always attempt to look after all my gadgetry, because it is expensive and if I want to use it there's no point in it getting damaged if it's cared for properly. I had wiped the surface with a wet wipe but got the driver to remove the top cover. Also wiped clean and hopefully, this will affect the price I eventually receive. 

I'm somewhat annoyed that the laundry room is locked until 8 a.m. Just crazy that I have to wait until 8 o'clock to do my washing. I haven't been told about this stupid new rule. More rules and regulations. Just annoying.

It seems that Freedom Day was somewhat overshadowed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Just tell me, when did Kiev become Kyiv? It seems that the names of quite a few places have more or less overnight been changed in their spelling. Most western nations have taken their eyes off the ball (you might say.) Biden, US President' is as much use as a wet fish. Probably has early-onset dementia. Meanwhile, our politicians have been more concerned about parties in Downing Street than watching what's happening centre stage.  No wonder Rome burns whilst Nero fiddles. Sorry, I'm mixing my metaphors. No wonder Putin has managed to do what he's done. Puts me in mind of the Munich Crisis in 1938 before the beginning of World War 2. Strange how history repeats itself.

10.30 a.m. It is quite sunny and warm. A pleasant enough day to wander slowly around Oldbrook Green.

I have been back baking. I got the Sainsbury's Magazine last time I was shopping and inside is a recipe for chocolate cookies, so I have bought the ingredients (not actually from Sainsbury's. I decided to go to Waitrose instead. It is quite an effort to make anything complicated in my tiny kitchen because there isn't much in the way of surfaces. It's a bit of a juggling act. Measuring out the flour, butter, sugar and so on and attempted to roll out the dough and then put it on baking trays, but my efforts have been worthwhile. The results have exceeded expectations. Now I have had all the boxes removed from the pantry/cupboard, I have more space to store the equipment, such as the food processor and the trays and pans. I need to get a good deal more organized next time I do a bake.

I have hit the 10,000 steps target today! That's approximately 5 miles. I took Alfie out  at around 4 p.m. as it was bright and sunny and it seemed a pity to not take advantage of the sun. I don't think Alfie was going to miss the opportunity to have a good walk and sniff around in the grass. Just glad to get the steps total in and finding the Fitbit is motivating me to get out of the flat.