A Little Bit Wet!

(Monday)A bit wet when I took Alfie out this morning around Eaglestone Park.

I needed to make a doctor's appointment. I have had a sort of rash on my neck. Scaly skin that irritates slightly, but not too much. I was going to leave it to clear up itself, but I thought that it might be better to get a doctor's opinion. I can't think where it came from. I was going to leave it until Wednesday and then make an appointment, but then I thought that, once I've been I can forget about it. I began ringing the surgery at 8.15, but the surgery phones must have been switched off as I only got a sort of 'engaged' tone. I rang about every 5 minutes after that and it wasn't until about 835 that I eventually got through to the system and then another 10 minutes of just hanging onto the line until a receptionist answered. I eventually got through and told the receptionist what my problem was and she said I should go to a pharmacy. I wasn't convinced that a pharmacist would be any use. If I did go I could only have 'over the counter' medication so I said I'd prefer a doctor's appointment. When I got the 'ring-back' from one of the doctors about an hour later, I was given an appointment with one of the practise nurses at 11 o'clock. So I had to sit and wait which is a bit annoying, but if you need a doctor's appointment you have no alternative, unfortunately.

I got to Ashfield Medical Centre in good time. I don't like the carpark at the rear of the surgery, basically because there's very little room for manoeuvring your vehicle and when you come out you have to be careful because you can't see cars coming in. And, walking round to the front, why is there a really unpleasant pile of cigarette ends as you walk round? I do think if people insist on smoking and have to go outside for a smoke, they shouldn't just throw their cigarette ends on the ground.

I didn't have to wait too long util I was called in to the practise nurse's room. Infact, a good 10 minutes before 11, so it was worth arriving early. I got a prescription for a cream to put on the dry skin on my neck. I took the prescription to the pharmacy next door to the surgery to have it made up. I didn't have to wait long and then drove into the city centre and parked where I usually do, near 'The Point.'

I've signed up to a walk-on agency called Universal Extras. I had one of my photographs approved by them and another of the shots my friend John did for me a few weeks ago has also been approved. But I needed to prove that I could work in the UK (as I think I've mentioned in an earlier blog post.) I have had a copy of my birth certificate returned from Bedford County Council Records department and I had to photograph it and then upload it onto the Universal Extras website, but for some reason it wouldn't upload. I took several photos with my iPhone, but I imagine it was too large and after several attempts it still wouldn't work. I needed to use my Canon digital camera to take further photos and then upload those. I don't really understand the technology. I had been looking around the house for the cable to allow me to upload photos from the camera onto my MacBook, but I couldn't find it, so I had to go into Jessops's shop in he central shopping centre to get a replacement lead, but they don't stock them and had to buy a card reader to do the same thing. I just took the card out of the Canon camera and put it into the card reader (a bit like a memory stick) and plug it into one of the USB sockets and upload the photos via that. It worked, thankfully. Then I had to find out how to reduce the size of the photo I wanted to upload to the Universal Extras site. I managed to get the photo taken but then it would not upload to the site. I think the photo is too large, and by going on Google I managed to find out out to reduce the photo file, but still it won't upload. I have not attached it to an email and sent it to Universal Extras, but I don't know whether they received it as I have had to response from them and it doesn't show on their website. Come back to find out whether this situation is resolved.
Tuesday morning. It's been raining all night. Not just rain, but a strong wind. It was so cold I was tempted to put the central heating on, but I didn't. It was raining so hard when I eventually got up that I decided not to take Alfie out for his customary walk. He was not pleased, as you can imagine. There was no way I was going out to get soaked and to have Alfie come home like a drowned rat. I am hoping (as I write this at 8.20a.m.) that I can take him out when I return from Camphill around 4.30 this afternoon. I'll just have to wait and see if things get better.

Canon Camera Repaired

I had a letter in the post yesterday from Jessops informing me that my Canon digital camera was back from being repaired. We decided not to rush in and collect it yesterday, preferring to go in this morning. The weather was really cold and there was quite  frost, as well as fog. I don't like driving in fog. Just not nice. Carol is the same. She does most of the driving these days. We went up the A5 yesterday, to one of our favourite haunts, just beyond  Weedon, and called Heart of Shires. It must have been a farmyard in a former life, but is now a rather special shopping centre, with some rather pleasant little shops within it's perimeter, including clothes, toys, antiques and gifts of all sorts of descriptions as well as a restaurant, Darlington's, which I imagine must have been the farmhouse, when the site had an agricultural purpose. We had lattes and toasted tea cakes and spent a rather pleasant hour or so browsing the retail outlets. It was a cold day, but the sun was out. The A5 has several similar retail sites along it's route, another being just outside Towcester and yet another further down the A5, which we have visited several times. Also, a couple of garden centres which have a good selection of gardening items such as plants and flowers and from which we occasionally buy our Christmas trees over the past few years. You can drive along the A5 in preference to the M1, which is only a short distance away, but we prefer the A5 (or Watling Street) as the scenery through which it passes it far more interesting. For some reason motorways seem to be designed so you can't always admire the scenery they pass through, and you are expected to drive far too fast and other motorists (but not all) can be very aggressive and self-centred and not respect you. Not quite so bad driving along Watling Street. 

It was foggy as we drove into Milton Keynes centre this morning. We parked in Debenham's multi-storey carpark. We walked through the shopping centre and arrived near Middleton Hall and had coffee in Caffe Nero. As Carol is diabetic she has to have occasional snacks to prevent her blood sugar going too low. We went into Boots to try and get test strips for her blood sugar monitor, but they didn't have them in stock. Quite complicated as there are so many of these devices on the market and all having different systems that aren't interchangeable. By this time it was time to go to Jessops to collect the camera and took out an extended warranty on the Canon so that if it needs repairing over the next few years it will be repaired without need for further payment. Also, bought a spare battery which we put in the camera. Always quite handy to have two batteries when we go out for the day as one can be in the camera and the second one, if fully charged, is always there as back-up should the one in the camera use up it's charge. It only takes two hours to charge, unlike the more traditional rechargeable batteries the Fuji camera uses which take around eight hours for a full charge.

We got back to Debenhams and, as there was a sale on, Carol wanted to have a browse. She saw a rather nice coat and a dress in the Mantaray department downstairs which she bought, along with a lovely silver broach in the form of a dog which looks somewhat like Poppy. Once we'd finished in Debenhams we went back to the car and drove to Sainsbury's. The fog had got a good deal thicker when we drove out of the multi-storey car park and it was even colder and it was as well we weren't driving far.  On the television news we've been hearing of accidents in and around the area, particularly one involving a bus on the M40 near Oxford. A lot of these crashes are because people will simply not slow down in fog. They seem to think they're safe continuing to drive as if it's clear, bright sunshine, but then get caught out when they don't realise they can't see as clearly as they should and so run into vehicles ahead of them that are driving a good deal slower.  In Sainsbury's, whilst looking for a suitable joint of beef for Sunday's roast,  we couldn't see a suitable piece of a size big enough for just the two of us, so we decided to leave and go to Morrison's near the railway station and did our shop there. By the time we'd finished we were well and truly shopped out, having been out for around four hours.

Digital Camera Malfunction and Christmas Shopping

My Canon digital camera decided to stop working. We wanted to take some photographs of Alfie, our Yorkie, but for some reason or other, the thing just wasn't doing what it should have done. I thought at first that the battery was flat. I had to find the confounded gadget which you have to use to put the battery in and then plug into the mains supply in order for the battery to be charged. This generally takes around two hours. When I looked at the battery the following morning I found the green light was still on, which showed that it was fully charged. It would have been orange showing there was no power in the battery. It was still green when I put it in the charging device. I put the battery in the camera and it didn't come on as it should have done. As a result we decided it should go back to the shop from where it was bought around a year ago, Jessops, in Milton Keynes Central Shopping Centre. We had other shopping we needed to do this morning, including our weekly grocery shop at Sainsbury's, but went into the city centre and took the camera with us. We parked in Debenham's multi-storey carpark and went in through Debenham's store. It was relatively customer-free when we walked through at around 9.30. Infact, the whole shopping centre seemed quite empty of people at that early hour of the morning. I suppose, considering it was a Saturday, it wasn't that much of a surprise. We walked in to the main centre and arrived at Jessops. We had searched for the receipt at home for the camera, as we realised that, if it was under a year old, it would still be under guarantee. Fortunately the young lady who came to our assistance was able to look at their computer system and she found the receipt. A neat bit of  computer technology, fortunately, which showed exactly what day it was we bought the camera. She removed the battery from the camera and said that she would put it on charge, so if we went off to complete our shopping and gave it an hour and a half or so, by the time we returned we would know whether the battery had charged or not. So we continued on our walk down the shopping centre, eventually arriving at the Middleton Hall end near John Lewis. We had a coffee and snack in Caffe Nero, opposite John Lewis. It was extremely busy, with a long queue virtually out of the door, but we were served relatively fast. From there we went into John Lewis, as there was quite a lot more we wanted to look for. I spent around 20 minutes browsing as Carol wanted time to search for my present and she obviously didn't want me with her. I had a browse in the electronics department, looking at, amongst other things, cameras, laptops and televisions. I saw an ultra HD television with a vast screen of well over 50 inches and was amazed at the clarity of the picture which was of animals on the veldt (supposedly) in Africa. You could almost feel you were there, see every detail of foliage, and hair, feel the wind blowing, it was that clear. Although I don't think I would want to spend almost £3000 on such a large television. It would take up most of one wall of our lounge. I eventually caught up with Carol and we then decided to walk back to Jessops. It turned out that the camera battery had not needed charging. I thought it might, because the green light on the charging device hadn't gone from 'orange', which would have indicated that it was out of power, to 'green,' indicating that it was fully charged. So the assistant took our details and said, as the camera was still under warranty it could be returned to Canon for repair. If it couldn't be repaired we would get a new camera as a replacement. I have to say I was really impressed by the customer service we received in Jessops. The assistant seemed very clued up as regards getting the camera repaired.  Which is more than I can say regarding Currys, where the customer service is virtually non existent. From Jessops we walked back towards Debenhams and had paninins and fruit juice in the resaurant.  Carol wanted to look for a dress in Debenhams and was rewarded  by her search and we bough me a rather smart new sweatshirt/top which will be another Christmas present.  From there we returned to the carpark and when we got out into the road we found the traffic building and headed towards Sainsbury's as we still had to do some grocery shopping before turning home.

Christmas, New Canon camera and Greeting Grandson George

Well, that's another Christmas come and gone. A bit of an anti-climax I always think. All that build-up, money spent, food eaten, excessive television schedule and all that and it's gone in 24 hours. I think it's the fact that the shops are stuffed to the rafters with merchandise to tempt you to part with your hard-earned cash and then within another 24 hours they re-open and the self-same stuff is around 75% discounted. You can't win, either way, it's to make you feel guilty that you didn't spend your money in such-and-such a store or on-line.

I've had my eye on a brand new digital camera for quite some while and had looked at a new Canon D.S.L.R. model, a 100D, which is one of their E.O.S. cameras, which was within my budget of £350. I'd seen it on-line at various retailers, Amzon, Jessops, John Lewis and Argos and was able to get a fairly good idea of it's specifications. We've had a couple of Fuji 'bridge' cameras and, for the money, they've been good value. But we have wanted to expand into S.L.R. territory, with a much more sophisticated camera which would allow us to change lenses, use the range of exposures and other refinements which a digital S.L.R. camera would allow. I started off around 12 years ago with a very basic Sony 'point-and-shoot' camera (which I still have, incidentally.) when I wanted to try out what, at the time, was a relatively new type of photography. I wasn't sure that digital could possibly be as good as traditional, film, photography. Before long I was using the camera to do all my photography tasks and, when I bought a new Apple computer, was able to up-load my photographs on to that and edit them and publish them on such sites as Flickr and then the relatively new social media site (at the time), Facebook. Then I met Carol and I found that she was as interested in digital photography as me and that she had a Fuji 'bridge' camera which we took with us when we visited National Trust properties and also when we went on holiday to Yorkshire together. We then bought a second Fuji camera in a sale in Jessops's in Northampton. Both these cameras were in Fuji's Finepix range, and, for the money, were exceptional value and produced some good photographs.

So,  last Wednesday,after all the research, we went into the Jessop's branch in Milton Keynes Shopping Centre to buy the camera. It turned out that the one they had in the shop on display was the only one they had in stock, so that is what we bought. Having purchased it we spent some time wandering around the shopping centre before we drove over to Stony Stratford because Chloe and Steve were staying with Chloe's half sister Louisa and her husband Richard and we would at last get to meet my grandson George for the first time. I mentioned that he was born on the evening we had our rare evening out at a restaurant back in October. We had planned to visit them in Worcester, but we have both had bouts of illness which meant we couldn't drive all the way there and hence the meeting, in a pub, The Cock, in Stony Stratford.

Proud grandparents with new grandson George.

As we had the new camera with us, it was a chance to try it out, hence the picture I have posted above. Quite an emotional moment, to say the least. Considering the fact I had my heart attack nine years ago I am so fortunate to be well enough to enjoy 'the moment.' Things might be very different if I hadn't come out of it, and might not have been around to meet him. 

Chloe with my son-in-law Steve and baby George.

On Boxing Day (26th December, the day after Christmas Day in Great Britain, for those not in this country.) it was surprisingly mild and warm weather-wise. ( WweInfact, up until now, we've had an exceptionally mild winter.) We needed to get out of the house. Being stuck indoors for any length of time begins to pall. A large amount of television-watching does begin to make you googly-eyed.. We considered several places and ended up on Whipsnade. After all we can visit without paying with Carol's Fellowship membership. So we drove there, no more than a 30-minute drive down the A5 towards Dunstable and across The Downs. We were surprised how many people were out walking along the paths as we went past the visitor centre run by the National Trust. We were further surprised by the number of people at Whipsnade Zoo, no doubt visiting as we were, making the most of the weather. It was certainly strange visiting so close to Christmas. We managed to get some good photographs of the flamingoes, as we saw them a good deal closer than we are usually able to see them.

Flamingoes at Whipsnade Zoo

We had bought a picnic with us, and ate this sitting in the car, overlooking the view from the carpark, the valley below where the zoo is situated. Fortunately the weather behaved itself although it looked very over-cast. 

Just Another Weekend?

On Friday, after Carol finished work, we went into the Milton Keynes Central Shopping Centre. We had a need to break our rather ordinary routine and get out of the house. We parked in Debenham's multi-storey car park and we had a good idea that it would be easy to park there. We met a queue of cars going into the town centre, most likely because it was Black Friday, which would mean a lot of shops would have pre-Christmas bargains. It seems that everyone has to go totally mad whenever there is any chance of a bargain but we were just keen to get out. We walked through Debenhams and the place was seething with shoppers. We went out into Midsummer Place and ended up in Waterston's and it was in the middle of being revamped which seemed amazing considering it was so close to Christmas. I don't think the shop has been modernised in all the time I have been coming to Milton Keynes. It will be a good deal brighter and modern once the work is completed. There used to be a Costa coffee shop upstairs as well as a Paperchase concession on the ground floor, both gone, so no doubt these were taken out due to the store being under new ownership. We did spend some time browsing and I have some ideas for book I would like to buy. Both Carol and I have done our Christmas present lists which makes it easier for us to buy each other presents. I am going to buy myself a new digital camera in the New Year, a Canon, which I have seen in Jessop's, the camera shop in the shopping centre, but may wait until then because it is bound to be a good deal cheaper in the January sales. I don't mind buying the camera in Jessops as the staff are very helpful and it was one of the businesses which very nearly collapsed when the economy was in a nose-dive and was rescued by one of the 'Dragon's', Peter Jones. If you've never seen the BBC2 show "Dragon's Den" no doubt you won't know who I mean, but anyone who rescues a good business from financial collapse and manages to turn it round to become a profitable business earns not only my total respect but my loyal custom. I can't wait to get the new camera and it will be a sort of joint retirement/birthday and Christmas present to myself!

The main shopping centre was seething with shoppers. I don't think I have seen it so busy, even in the build-up to Christmas. We went into W.H. Smith as Carol wanted a folder for work. We then decided we needed a break, with a coffee and something to eat. We had intended going into Costa near John Lewis but then went to Pret A Manger. There is a lot of choice regarding places to get a drink and something to eat and we've been to Cafe Nero which is the opposite side of Middleton Hall, where the Christmas display is currently on. We were surprised when we went to get our drinks in Pret A Manger when the young man on the till said it was free. We had hot chocolate and mince pies which were very good. A shock to get something without having to pay, but apparently, according to Carol, they are expected to give away some food and drink free to customers. No doubt a sort of 'good will' gesture or something. I can't imagine many businesses doing that sort of thing.

We did have a cursory glance at the Christmas display, but to be totally honest it is a real disappointment. I don't know what it is, but it's certainly not the best effort. The usual little train they have every year is there, but the whole thing lacks any sort of imagination. A load of snow, a few mechanical penguins and Father Christmas doesn't make for a particularly entertaining experience, but I suppose as it's aimed at very little chidren, that's all that matters, but in past years they've had a theme, such as 'Peter Pan', 'Pirates ' or 'Pantomime.' Don't ask me what the theme of this year's extravaganza is as it doesn't appear to have one and it's a shame you have to pay to see most of it. So, as a result, we didn't bother, unfortunately.

Our outing ended with us going home towards Eaglestone and going to the fish and chip shop as we usually do on a Friday evening. You really can't beat the fish and chips from the Brothers Fish Bar in Eaglestone.