Wild, Windy and Wet

 Saturday. 6.30 a.m. Another storm raging across the country. This one is called Storm Darragh. I'd really love to know who comes up with these names.

3.50 p.m. I went to Sainsbury's this morning. Milk was running out and there were other things I needed. It's the best time to go, just after 9, because it's never busy on a Saturday morning. The self-service I used was behaving itself, which made things easier than usual.

The wind has been raging around the building all day. I think it must be the extractor fan in the kitchen which makes strange noises which are rather scary. Very blustery out and quite dangerous, with the possibility of tiles coming off roofs and bits of tree falling on you. Perhaps it's best to stay indoors, and I hope the wind settles down soon.

Sunday. 9.10 a.m. The wind was howling around the building all night. As I write this, it seems a good deal quieter, but still a bit gusty.

I have been unable to connect my Panasonic Freeview box to my new Vodafone Wi-Fi router. I have attempted to put the password into the relevant place, but it doesn't work. A really difficult job, because the password is so long, and you have to put in upper and lower case. Annoying and fiddly. I am also having a similar problem with my Canon printer. It is virtually impossible to connect the thing to Wi-Fi, so I think the only solution is to use the cable which I already have, so I will use that and forget the Wi-Fi connection. These things seem to cause no end of problems, but the cable is the best solution. There is supposed to be a way to connect via the Canon app, but I have spent some considerable time attempting to get the thing to connect, but nothing.

Tuesday. 7.30 a.m. Here I am, shaved, and dressed, Alfie has been out and sitting here writing this.

I have been doing more writing. Some things have prompted me to restart writing, one being a survey I did online, which was about food for older dogs. Alfie, being such a dog (can't believe he's 17. I don't know what that is in human years.) and part of it was to imagine I was Alfie and write a piece as if I was him and see the world as he sees it. I had real fun writing it and I think I got quite carried away. Hence, I ordered some new Pukka pads from Viking, the online stationery company, and have managed to write about a page and a half. I have had the idea circulating in my head for ages, so it was relatively easy to write. 

The weather seems relatively calm at the moment. I just hope we don't have the gale-force winds we have had over the past few days.

Friday. 9.25 a.m. The past couple of days, it's been overcast and gloomy. It's misty or, at least, thin and foggy outside. It would be great if the sun shone but don't expect miracles, as we are in December, so the weather can be expected to be cold and gloomy.

Saturday. 1.15 p.m. It's not so wild, windy or wet today, fortunately. The sun is shining as I write this and it's quite pleasant out.

I had a doctor's appointment at 10.30 this morning. As usual, I arrived early and it was worth it, because I was called into the doctor's surgery about 15 minutes early. The doctor said I was in good health, but I should lose some weight. I suppose he's right. I've never been into sport, but I suppose I could go for the occasional swim. I might look out for a gym which has a swimming pool. Carol and I used to belong to two gyms, one down near the football stadium and then Nuffield Health at Kent's Hill. Each of these gyms had the usual gym facilities, but also swimming pools, saunas and jacuzzis. I cancelled our Nuffield memberships after Carol died. It might be a good idea to get back to swimming as a form of exercise.

On the way back from the doctor's I dropped into Sainsbury's which actually wasn't such a good idea, as it was heaving, people in there no doubt making sure they had sufficient mince pies, Christmas puddings and wrapping paper before it all ran out. Not likely, but it seemed like it. The travelator wasn't working so I had to walk up without it moving and then come down in a lift when I had done my shopping.

Working Technology!!

Monday. 8.40 a.m. Yet another mild and sunny, although not particularly warm, day. Dare I say 'springlike'? Probably tempting providence if I say that. Alfie and I were out well before 7 o'clock. He had to be woken up, as he was fast asleep in his bed.

I have printed off the first twenty pages of my writing project. I'm not sure whether to call it a novel. It was never really intended to be a 'novel' in the strictest sense. I think it should be issued in 'episodes' or 'instalments' which is how many novels were published in the 19th century, most notably Dickens'. I will now edit and modify what I have written and, having begun some research, be able to continue what I have been working on gradually over the last couple of years.

The Canon printer is working well! After all the issues I had with the HP printer, it's great to have a printer which does what it's supposed to do. The Wi-Fi connection works exceptionally well, meaning I can be in the lounge with the MacBook and the printer, which is in my bedroom, basically, because there's no space in the lounge for the printer, which is set up on the unit I got from Amazon. Definitely a good buy, having wheels and space underneath to store paper and other supplies. The printer will print on both sides of the paper, which is good, as it saves on paper. It's fascinating watching it work. When a page is printing, and it gets to the end of one side, the printer stops for a second or two, presumably to give the ink a chance to dry, and then the sheet is drawn back inside the printer so that the second side can be printed. The HP printer wouldn't do this. Considering all the problems I have had with the various printers I've owned, it's great to have at last got one who actually WORKS!

10.30 a.m. I've been to Sainsbury's, and at last done the shopping (or I should say, the rest of my list. I could only manage to carry one bag of shopping back home after my trip on Saturday, due to having to walk when I'd had problems with the power steering. See the last blog post for more details. I bought daffodils. It's approaching Carol's birthday. It's 7th March, and she would have been 59. So, in memory of my lovely lady, I have cut daffodils, which are replaced in the vase I have. The current bunch is at a very early stage, so they will gradually open as the days pass.

Tuesday. 7.15 a.m. I've only just got back from going out with Alfie. It's another fine morning. I've done all the washing-up and the kitchen is tidy. I've also done my pack-up to take with me to Camphill. This is why I went to Sainsbury's yesterday. I have pork pie because I have got tired of boring sandwiches. 

5.40 p.m. I had almost forgotten that today was Shrove Tuesday, better known as Pancake Day. Arriving at Camphill, I soon discovered that things weren't going to be the normal sort of format for the day. As it was Pancake Day, the theatre workshop team were going to have an outing to Campbell Park, as there was scheduled to be a pancake race event, with one of the leaders of the group running to represent Camphill. Some people were going to walk, whilst some were to be ferried to the site via minibus, some were going in Terrie's vehicle and I was going on my own and wouldn't be able to take anyone, because my car isn't insured for such work, only having private insurance. All this wasn't going to kick into action until after tea break.

Terrie had a meeting with me. She told me that, because the theatre group was growing, with quite a few people coming from outside the Camphill Community in Milton Keynes, the ratio of clients to staff was being eroded. She told me that she and Julia had been discussing the need for there to be another member of staff in the theatre and that she would like me to have more of a role in the group, which would probably mean me leading some of the sessions, because, with so many in the theatre group, it might eventually be possible to run separate teams within the workshop. I am now going to consider how I could see my role, but still remain a volunteer. This really makes me so pleased as I want to be able to give as much as I can to the theatre workshop.

Around 11.20, I drove off to Campbell Park, not knowing exactly where I was going to park. I remember going to a history festival there in 2019 (which is how I made contact with various groups, such as the Bucks Archaeology Society and Milton Keynes Heritage Association.) I couldn't remember whether I had parked nearer the park (where the pancake race was to be held.) and then realised, during my drive, that I had parked nearer the shopping centre, probably near the Xcape. At which point I decided that I would need cash to pay to park and then drove back to Dexter House to collect my wallet.

Having done the journey back to Dexter House and then return to park near Xcape, I walked over to Campbell Park and, as I crossed the road, I could see in the distance the encampment which had been set u for the pancake race. As I got closer, I saw the Camphill stand, with staff selling food and some of them cooking pancakes. There were several heats of pancake races, run as relays, one of which was a Camphill team of staff and one member was Mitchell, who works in the theatre workshop. There was also a special race for those with disabilities, in particular, Camphill and something called Snap (Special Needs Advancement Project) which is a day-services organization. Some of the Camphill residents go there. It was one of the organizations I had considered volunteering at before I discovered Camphill and the theatre workshop. This race was run with the circuit broken into quarters and each team only running each quarter. I'm not sure, but I think Snap won. 

The group who had walked from Camphill arrived long before Terrie arrived, no doubt because she had to park her vehicle and then walk over from near the shopping centre as I had done.

There was plenty to eat, as well as drink. I got a free pancake from the Camphill stall as well as a latte which I paid for at a nearby coffee stall. I think I recognize this mobile coffee van, possibly from the Bucks agricultural show from several years ago.

After all the races were won and prizes distributed, the event was over, so I walked back to my car and drove back to Milton Keynes. On arrival, I discovered that the car park was full, so I had to park in an area outside the Camphill campus I sat in the car and ate my pack-up, which I had put in the car well before leaving Camphill earlier in the morning.

After lunch, we watched a couple of silent films on YouTube, although it was projected onto the cinema screen in the Chrysalis Theatre. There was a bit of a problem getting the laptop to connect to the internet, but it eventually worked. One was a very early French film, made in around 1903 called 'From The Earth To The Moon.' Probably the first science fiction film. The second one was from around 1922, based loosely on Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland', and utilized all sorts of visual effects, both films were restored (as far as it was possible.) by the British Film Institute.

After a short tea break, everyone went outside into the forecourt area of Camphill, because there were to be some further pancake races. I think my last visit to Camphill, before the pandemic lockdowns in 2020, was coincidental with pancake day, and I  have seen video footage of it on Vimeo.

Congratulations, Ma'am!

Thursday. 8.00 a.m. So, we are about to start a four-day Platinum Jubilee weekend, I can never remember anything anywhere near similar to this. I easily remember the Silver Jubilee in 1977. Children at the local primary school were given special commemorative mugs, but how many of these survived? In 2002 we had the Golden Jubilee, but I don't remember much of that. Then, in 2012 there was the Diamond Jubilee, and an amazing concert was held in front of Buckingham Palace. I don't think anything like it had ever been organized before. I believe a similar concert will again be staged this year. 

1.05 p.m. I am currently watching live pictures of a flypast over Buckingham Palace, with H.M. Queen and other members of the Royal Family and amazing numbers of the public crowding the area immediately in front of the Palace and along The Mall, with flags waving and cheering. 

Friday. 6.10 a.m. Up out of bed and walked with Alfie around Oldbrook Green at 5.15. I don't think Alfie was fully awake, and as I write this he is back in his bed. I can't blame him, curled up and comfortable.

9.15 a.m. It's great to now have no less than TWO new washing machines at Dexter House, both in full working order. But the only problem for me is, how to operate them! The old machines had the old-fashioned mechanical controls, where you merely twisted a dial to the setting you want and the correct water temperature and length of cycle, which was easy and, frankly, common sense. But these new machines have a touch screen, much like an iPad or iPhone. I don't have a problem with them, but I'm not entirely happy using the touch screens on these machines. I don't want to wash my clothes at a temperature which ruins my clothes, so I end up shrinking things. I think I have the machine set up correctly this morning and, as I write this, I am waiting for a tumble drier load of clothes to complete drying so I can remove the load and put it all away on hangers. 

Saturday. 6.00 a.m. A pleasant and cool morning here at the heart of the universe here in swinging Milton Keynes. Alfie was fast asleep just before I took him out to walk the entire circuit of Oldbrook Green. 

11.20 a.m. I can't get the photographs which I took at the History Festival at Milton Keynes to upload onto my MacBook. I used to have a cable which you plugged into the Canon digital camera and the other end into the laptop, but I can't find it. It got lost when I moved into Dexter House. I had a card reader which you used with the card out of the camera and plugged into the USB port, but it doesn't work. None of the photographs shows up on the laptop. So I have gone to Curry's this morning to buy a replacement cable and did some top-up shopping in Aldi which is just along the parade of units. I had a good excuse to browse new digital cameras as I am considering upgrading mine. New digital cameras have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, so you don't need to have cables to connect to your laptop. Also, some are capable of recording video for vlogging, which is a term I have only just discovered. You can make videos to upload onto the internet, for example, on YouTube. The Sony model I have seen has all these features, and you can attach a Bluetooth-connected handle which transforms into a tripod.

1.20 p.m. It continues to rain. Not heavy, but enough to damp the ground and to be disliked by Alfie. He is currently sleeping in his bed.

I am currently watching a BBC documentary series presented by Lucy Worsley which investigates several historic incidents in British history, such as the Black Death, The Princes In The Tower, The Madness of King George III and The Witch Hunts of the Middle Ages. She uses newly released documents as well as modern technology to dig a good deal deeper to uncover new evidence which over-rides the usual historical narrative to reveal a great deal of interesting material. An excellent and absorbing series.

May Day, May Day!

Sunday. 7.10 a.m. I was going to close down this blog for a while, but I find it virtually impossible to ignore things that are going on around me. I've been writing this blog for so long, and it has become so embedded in my life that it's very difficult to let go of it, so here I am. 

Why do we have May Day in this country? I know in Russia (which, with the war going on in Ukraine at the moment, is non persona grata.) they had May Day as a celebration under Communism, but why on earth do we have it? I think it's an ancient fertility festival, probably going back millennia and dancing around the maypole was part of the festivities, which also included the crowning of a May Queen (one of the few remaining May Day festivals is or was held in Ickwell, Bedfordshire and was quite popular and probably now held on the May Bank Holiday Monday, although I wouldn't be too sure of that. The Bank Holiday, not necessarily in Great Britain, is a celebration of working people. On the other hand, 'May Day', as a distress call from a ship that is perhaps sinking, is based on the fact that the French term 'm'aider' which sounds similar, translates as 'help me!"

As I write this, my digital thermometer reads 82ªF and I see no attempt by anyone who should be dealing with this matter (shutting off the heating, full-blast in the middle of summer when the temperature outside is relatively high.)

It looks as if the workmen have at last finished painting the corridors and other areas within Dexter House. I must say, it looks a good deal better than it was. The dull, brown, wooden staircases which lead up to some flats, including mine, are now painted white. Now I want all the tat which fills up a lot of the spaces along my corridor removed. I know doey-eyed puppies and pussycats, ceramic boots with artificial flowers in them, Disney characters with awful grins on their faces aren't everyone's idea of style, but they really need disposing of. Just a lot of clutter and dust traps. 

I had someone from Mears come to look at my bathroom a few weeks ago.. It appears that I can't have a bath fitted as they would need to make 'structural alterations to the space, ie; remove the airing cupboard, in order to install a decent sized bath. I can have a shower unit. So, in that case, there is no choice. Rather like Henry Ford when he was asked about the colour of the Model T, you can have any colour, so long as it's black. It is supposed to take between two weeks and six months before I hear when the work is likely to take place. Well, ticking the box, it's more than two weeks since they came to see the bathroom, so it would seem I have to wait the obligatory six months to get any sort of response. WHY??? I appreciate it's not Mears who decides this matter, but it has to go through goodness knows how many departments within Milton Keynes Council to approve the work, but, let's be honest, it's just giving someone a job deciding the matter. They are upgrading this place, so they have already decided the matter, so they're just dragging their feet for no good reason.

I have a shower curtain on a rail which is kept in place by being screwed out and just pushed against the wall at each end. More by force of effort rather than having a sort of screw or bracket on the wall. I have hung clothes on this rail because there is absolutely nowhere else to hang clothes. I have put over-door hooks on the back of my bedroom door and of course, I can hang shirts and other clothes, on hangers, within the built-in wardrobe in my bedroom. I was awakened the other night by a sound, which I couldn't at first identify. I thought it might have been something being blown by the wind, as I have all the windows open because this flat is so excessively hot (as I've mentioned on numerous occasions in these posts.) I went through to the lounge but could see nothing which might have caused the sound. Then I went into the bathroom, to discover that the shower curtain, along with the rail, as well as some clothing which had hung on the rail, had fallen into the bath. So, it was that which had caused the sound I had heard. I went to The Range and bought a new shower curtain rail. I was surprised how scarce these items are, for whatever reason. I looked in Homebase, which is just over the road from The Range. Nothing to see there. I have since managed to install the new rail, and it's doing its job, not exactly perfectly, but working nonetheless. Well, you may be asking, what more can it do? Just not fall out of it's position.

1.15 p.m. I've been to church this morning. We have a computerized system which means the words of songs we sing are projected onto a screen and other information is used to be presented via this system. But today it wouldn't work. We are drawing to the end of The Prayer Course: Part 2, which will be this Thursday. The videos which we use at the beginning of each session are on YouTube and usually, there is no problem with the system, but this week there was a problem with it as there was last week when we used my iPad, connected to a Bluetooth speaker. I think there must be a problem with connecting to the church wi-fi system. Although we didn't have the lyrics of the songs this morning, we seemed to manage really well, probably as most people, myself included, knew the words of the songs and things went better than it might have done. Just shows that you don't really need all that technology at certain times.

I have mentioned that I have windows open to let out the heat (crazy when you think about it.) I wanted to have the kitchen window open to its fullest extent, but for some reason, it will only open a few inches, which is really ridiculous. Is this to prevent me from jumping out of the window, or, for that matter, people climbing in? I doubt it. If I intended to jump out (which might be possible, considering being copped up in here for two years due to pandemic lockdowns.) my fall would be impeded by a rather large hedge below the window, although you would have to roll down a few feet of a roof before you reached the hedge..So, it wouldn't be a very good place to fall out, as a means of escape or a means of ending it, although being confined with a load of fogeys might be one of the reasons to end it all (no, seriously I have no intention of so doing.)  although it might possibly be a reason just to get away from endless bingo Zimmer frames, electric scooters and being treated like a zombie. No, only joking, but that's what being cooped up in here does to you.

Monday. 6.25 a.m.  Bank Holiday Monday. My digital thermometer currently reads 78ºF. I still have two electric fans running at full blast but nothing seems to cool this flat sufficiently. I was out with Alfie at around 5.30. It was light outside and there seemed no point in sitting around when he needs to go out. But Alfie didn't really appreciate me taking him around Oldbrook Green, but I was determined to get my step count up to my target of 10,000 so I insisted, although his nibs was more than reluctant to go. Around five circuits of Oldbrook Green more or less produces the desired step count.

Technical Problems and Medication

I've been having technical problems with my Panasonic Freeview set-top box. I think I've mentioned that I replaced Sky with Freeview. It made sense, because I didn't get the best value from their service and it was costing quite a bit for the privilege of having their service, and Freeview is, well, free. The new set-top box has been working perfectly successfully, but they keep on upgrading the software (I presume that's what it does, you keep getting messages to do this and then when you try to find channels, they have moved them around or added new ones. Somewhat annoying.) But after one up-grade, for some reason or other the box wouldn't connect by wi-fi to the internet router, which meant that I couldn't use the catch-up facility which it has, so couldn't use BBC iPlayer or ITV Hub and all the other similar services.  No amount of fiddling with the various settings would re-connect to the router. I have now got it working again, not connecting via wi-fi, but by connecting a cable to the box and plugging it in to the router. The cable purchased from Amazon and ordered on Thursday and delivered yesterday evening. One of the advantages of having Amazon Prime, you get next-day delivery on virtually all that they sell. The Freeview box is now working as it should and I'm enjoying watching a lot of archive material on the BBC iPlayer.

I recently up-graded my Fire Stick to one which now has Alexa voice control. This was bought for half-price during Amazon's Black Friday period, so it seemed a good enough excuse to get one. Not only do you get the range of video material but by using Alexa you can have games, which are voice-operated. I was surprised how easy it was to set up and get running. I'm really glad that I bought this when I did.

I have mentioned that I had been prescribed Sertraline and Temazepam. The first is a anti-depressant and the second is a sleeping tablet. I took the Temazepam for only a couple of nights but found that there were unpleasant side-effects. I don't think it helped me sleep, even though I had a hot bath and a hot-milky drink before going to bed. I still wake at around 4a.m. and was then unable to return to sleep, but the next morning I felt really nauseous and got horrible shakes, which didn't go off completely until around midday. I stopped taking it a day or two before I was due to drive to Worcester for Christmas, because I don't think I would have been safe to drive the car.

Later. I took Alfie out for his usual early-morning walk, walking along Strudwick Drive and across Oldbrook Boulevard and I couldn't help seeing 'that woman' who stands in the road stopping cars and asking for money. This must be the sixth time I've seen her. I was keen to get back to Dexter House without the possibility of her stopping me or even following me back. She's dressed the same way as she has been before, tidily dressed, wearing dark trousers or leggings, a short top, like a bomber jacket, has short-copped hair, mousy-coloured, aged mid 40's early 50's, height around 5' 8. When I got back to the flat I rang 101 and told the Police of this woman, because I'm concerned for her safety, either getting run over or even stabbed by someone (unfortunately these things happen.) She must live somewhere nearby in Oldbrook and presumably in a residential home for people with either learning disabilities or mental health issues. If so (and it seems more than likely.) she must have a key worker or at least a support worker, or even a social worker who would look after her care.

Later still. Having sorted out the Freeview box (as explained above.) the Fire Stick was playing up on Sunday evening. It would not connect to the wi-fi router. I could not get a connection until I restarted it (having gone to the Amazon site and searching for 'help.' This worked and it soon joined the wi-fi router and the problem was solved.

Haircut and Heat

A strange sort of subject-line for a blog post, you may ask, but, wherever possible, I attempt to use alliteration. It just makes it that bit more memorable and it's fun to try and find words that fit what I am attempting to write.

On Saturday morning I went to get my hair cut at Essential Barbers in the main Milton Keynes shopping centre. There is method in my madness (a sort of quote from 'Hamlet,' actually not spoken by Hamlet, but by Polonius, but I digress.) I am attempting to get back into television walk-on work and I have already signed up to two on-line agencies. I have uploaded some fairly out of date photographs of myself but need more up to date ones and my friend John in Bedford as agreed to take some for me, and I'm going over to Bedford on Wednesday morning to get them done. I need specifically a full-length photograph done for one agency, done against a white background if possible. I think it's so that if all those on the site have the same sort of 'look' they will look far more professional. So, I wanted to look neat and tidy, so a haircut was in order.

I arrived at a little after 9 o'clock and the shop was open and I didn't have to wait long to be sitting in he chair having my hair cut. I always like to be outside waiting but there was no need to this time. They open half an hour earlier than during the week.

Monday morning. Alfie is such a funny little dog. He spends a lot of time on the sofa. It's where Carol spent so much time, laying on the sofa when she couldn't sit comfortably when the cancer was at its worst. I begin to wonder whether Alfie is under the impression that as she lay there, often with him by her side, that she will come back. He doesn't come upstairs at night to sleep on my bed. He sometimes comes up at some point, but doesn't always stay with me. He often goes into the kitchen where his bed is, in the corner near the sliding patio doors. Perhaps that is safe and very snug for him. No draughts and he can hide away. He seems to quite like his own space. As I write this he's on the sofa next to me, staring at me, as if I'm about to do something spectacular. He's also snoring. But he doesn't like one particular cushion that usually lives on the sofa. He will look at me with a certain amount of surprise, expecting me to remove it, but he will often push it off with his nose. Don't ask me why he doesn't like it. Just amusing watching him with it.Perhaps it just takes up space or something. I'm still not sure what it is.

Later. It is actually quite warm today, so the title of this blog post is appropriate. I've been in to John Lewis's restaurant for the Willen coffee morning, a lovely group of people and really supportive and helpful. I have been downstairs to the electrical department looking at Canon digital cameras. I would like to upgrade to a more modern model. They  now have new features, such as connecting to your printer and laptop via wi-fi and Bluetooth, remote control and the use of an app on your iPhone to control the camera as well as a swivel viewing screen which enables you to view what you are photographing from a different angel. The remote might be handy if you want to get shots without being too obvious, such as setting the camera up on a tripod, say, out in the garden, with the camera focussed on the bird feeder. You could then trigger the shutter remotely without disturbing the birds. Or for taking self portraits. You could turn the screen round so you could see the pose and set the frame up accordingly and then trigger the shutter with the remote control.

Setting up New Canon Printer

Carol had hoped to spend the day doing preparation for lessons before she goes back to work at The Academy next week. It does take some considerable amount of time and energy to plan lessons. Which is why I get annoyed when she comes home and tells me she's had to deal with behaviour issues with the children she teaches. Not all of them, of course. It's usually a very small percentage who play up. They don't care that it's taken so long to plan a lesson and then have it disrupted. Carol uses the internet and her lap-top and needs a printer to produce her resources for the lessons she plans. So, it was somewhat annoying for her to discover that the printer we had was not working properly. I had only bought ink cartridges myself a week or two ago so I could print out material I needed myself. Then the H.P. printer, which is housed in the spare room upstairs, began to make some awful noises. As if something was caught in the paper feed. It wasn't going to stop. So, it was decided that we'd need to buy a new one. It's crazy that the ink cartridges cost more than the actual cost of a brand new printer. We decided to go to Argos and check out prices. We went for a new Canon printer, actually a fairly reliable brand, one that I knew well as I used to own one myself. Also, my digital camera is a Canon, which is good and has no end of features for what it cost. Amazing how technology improves as the years pass. The printer is not only a printer but can scan and copy, so it's actually a 3-in-1 device. Also, it's wi-fi connected so there's no need to plug in bits of cable. The same with our internet connection. This laptop, a MacBook Air, is connected to the internet through our Sky router. We had to download the drivers onto this laptop and Carol's laptop, a Toshiba, because the printer came with a CD ROM with the software on it and neither laptop has a CD drive in which to put the disc. So, we had to download the drivers from the Canon website and then spent a good two hours attempting to get the software to connect to the wi-fi system. I can also link my new iPhone to the printer if I want to print anything off from that, which is actually unlikely.

Mind you, I'm annoyed that the old printer has packed up. It's only a few years old. Having said that, I suppose it has done reasonably well. There is also the fact that technology changes so rapidly and it's quite difficult to keep up with any changes. Generally the changes are for the better. Computer operating systems change so quickly you have to keep things up graded otherwise they don't operate properly or even efficiently. I often think it's a cynical device set up by manufacturers to get you to part with more cash. My MacBook upgrades without any further payment, thankfully. So parting with some more cash for the new printer isn't such a bad idea and the new printer costs a fraction of what one would have cost 15-20 years ago. I remember when I bought my first Macintosh in the mid 1990's the printer, which was only a black-and-white model cost around £400. Today you can print, scan and copy from one machine, on two sides of the paper and in near-perfect quality as well as print photographs and graphics, which that old model wouldn't do.

Holiday In Yorkshire- Part 1

We've been away for the past week, on holiday in Yorkshire, and Flamborough Head to be more precise. So that will explain to those of you who are regular readers of my meanderings on here, why I have not posted anything. It would have been nice if I had been able to write each day's 'doings' as it were, but the cottage where we stayed, although very pleasant in every other aspect did not have wi-fi, so we were unable to read or send emails or write this blog. We took lots of photographs, so I should be able to amend my jottings with some of these pictures.

We took both dogs with us. We've taken Poppy before, but not Alfie. As I must have mentioned elsewhere in these posts, he doesn't travel well in the car. We got a cage which sits in the back of the car and he's reasonably happy going in that. Carol managed to get both dogs into the car without much fuss. I think perhaps it was so early that Alfie was half asleep when she did it! Poppy seemed really quite happy to sit in the space in the back of the car without making any fuss. Perhaps with the boot closed and the parcel shelf in place both dogs were safe and secure which might explain why they made no noise for most of the journey north to Yorkshire.

We had decided that we would leave for Yorkshire on the Friday, after Carol finished work, but, after some discussion, we thought it would be more sense to go up on the Saturday morning, really early, as it would mean we'd have had a good night's sleep, and we would be driving during daylight. It's a good four-hour drive, if not slightly longer, and going up on the Friday would mean that the last part would be in the dark. When we last drove to Yorkshire, when we'd stayed in a cottage near Northallerton, we'd gone up late and found it quite difficult finding the cottage in the dark.

Talk Talk Poor Internet Connection

My internet service provider is Talk Talk. We have had quite a few problems with the internet  We have a wi-fi connection. It seems to be fine for other internet-connected computers and gadgets, including Carol's iPod Touch and Daniel's laptop. The iMac has been set up in our bedroom, but the wi-fi signal seems to drop out several times over the course of the day. You have to turn off the Airport on the iMac, and then the actual modem which is downstairs in the lounge, so there's quite often a fair amount of running up and down stairs until the thing resolves itself, but then there can be absolutely no internet connection for a whole day. This has been going on for several months now, but I rang TalkTalk to try and get them to resolve things. There is a point where you have to do something about this sort of thing, so I rang their number and then had to go through quite a few  'menu options' before I managed to speak to a human. I was THEN put through to someone in the 'Technical Department' and they decided that they'd do a test of our line to see if they could detect a problem, because they told me that it wasn't the wi-fi which was causing the problems (but I personally doubt it.) We had to unscrew one of the telephone line boxes, the one in the hall, and then plug the 'splitter' in to the socket which was underneath the cover.
They had my mobile number, because the phone was cut off during this 'line test.' About half an hour later I got a phone call from TalkTalk to say that they'd tested the line and that there had been a poor connection or something somewhere or other and that it was now sorted. So we put the front panel back together and reconnected the splitter (the thing that splits the line into 'broadband internet and telephone, so they can be run together from the one telephone socket.) It seemed to work fine. But I have since found that the iMac upstairs didn't connect any better. Infact, it was just as confounded awkward as it was before the line test. I'm more than ever certain it has to be something to do with the wi-fi and I have since bought the computer downstairs and connected it direct into the modem instead of using the wi-fi. The internet connects quickly and there's no problem. So, to conclude, I reckon that it has to be the wi-fi that has been causing all the problems.