Tuesday, 30 December 2014

Winter 2014/15: Crick/7


Sunday 21/12/14 to Wednesday 31/12/14

 Wednesday 24/12/14

 I eventually took the M1 South, then the A414 through Hatfield and Hertford and then Harlow on Monday morning. Unlike most times when we cross the motorway bridge on our way to Daventry, and the motorway is one huge tailback, it was pretty clear and made my trip so much faster.

 Now, up until this time I had no idea what to buy Sheila for Christmas. Indeed, I hadn’t even found a suitable card either. So, having dropped in on Les, dropped cards into David’s place and paid a visit to Marilyn, I finally found my way to Alan’s place and dragged him out to find a suitable present for Wifey.

 Our first destination was The Range, at which I fully expected to find a card at least, but they didn’t seem to have any of those. So, in a complete panic, I then phone Wifey and asked if she could PLEASE, think of something, which was when she told me her mobile had been playing up and could I get her a new one.

 Well, thank goodness for that, I thought and so we made our way to Tesco, where I found a pretty good card and, most importantly, a nice, new Galaxy phone. Hallelujah!!!

 From there we treated ourselves to a couple of drinks in celebration.

 In the evening, after a light meal of sausage, egg and chips, we paid a second visit to the White Admiral, where we found Alan’s son Jason already in attendance and where, somewhat later, our sister Carole also joined us after her visit to Aunt Mabel and Cousin Rita. And a good time was had by all.

 The return trip on Tuesday only took me 1½ hours, which was pretty good even for me. The only fly in the ointment was that I forgot to bring the turkey home with me, so we had to run over to Waitrose in Daventry in order to correct that mistake. Alan has promised to keep it in the freezer for me, so that I can collect it next time I’m down there.

 25/12/14

 It’s Christmas day and, of all days for it to happen, I have no Internet access through my 4G WiFi unit. It started out OK and I received a mass of emails, but when I attempted to send one, no luck. I am not a happy bunny. The rest of my day will be wooined because of it!! But not my visit to the club and my Christmas dinner.

 Friday 26/12/14

 Well, that’s another Christmas over and done with. As usual we spent an hour at our club yesterday lunchtime but, thinking it would be as busy as it was last year, we didn’t take Alex with us. However, although many of the usual crowd did turn up, the joint wasn’t exactly heaving. Still, we passed a very pleasant hour there.

 My job today will be to pull the turkey carcase apart, which comes with the usual benefits. Some will be used for our cold meat and pickle dinner today, while the rest of the meat will be put in a turkey and ham pie.

 This morning we’ll be taking Alex over to the Country Park in Daventry and, whilst we’re there we’ll be looking for the Ukulele Club meeting place. I should have joined last Tuesday evening but, to be honest I was just a little knackered from all that driving. I’ll get there next week though, for sure.

 Talking about ukuleles, we bumped into Annie and her husband yesterday morning, just as they were on their way to visit family for Christmas dinner and, to my surprise, Annie’s husband had a rather handsome banjo in his hand. Hopefully we’ll be able to get together sometime.

 Saturday 27/12/14

 We’ve had our first snow of the winter. When Wifey took Alex out at about 7pm last night she found about an inch of the stuff on the bow. By 10pm, when she took him out for his last walk, it had been raining and most of the snow had gone. Then, thinking it was going to be icy this morning, I switched the heating on early, only to find there was no frost, although we do have a pretty cold wind now.

 Wifey is well pleased with her new Galaxy Young 2 mobile and we have printed out the ‘destructions’ for it. She now knows how to switch it on and off!! I bought the phone in Tesco’s on Monday and it came with a SIM, which has a different number of course. Wifey has been hemming and hawing as to whether to change it to her old number, or keep the new one. If she decides to change to her current number we’ll take a bus ride into Rugby and visit the 02 store for a PAC Code, then we’ll have to visit Tesco’s in Daventry to get the number changed. With all that palaver I rather think she’ll keep the new one.

 As for my new phone, well, new since July, I still can’t log into my email account at Absolute Email, even though I have opened a Microsoft account. Nor can I download any apps, for precisely the same reason. I even set up a new account with Microsoft and they sent me an email at my Yahoo account, with which I verified my details. Even then, when I tried logging in my details were refused.

 I rather think I’ll be buying a different mobile and selling this one. It really has become a trial!!

 We used up some more of the turkey yesterday evening and enjoyed a portion of Christmas pud and mince pie with cream. The rest of the turkey will be put in a turkey and ham pie, one of my favourites at this time of year.

 Sunday 28/12/14

 What a day we had yesterday! We decided to take the bus into town and visit the 02 shop to see what could be done with the new phone I bought Sheila. After transferring the details from the old phone, onto a new, slim line SIM for the new one, the nice man told us the new phone needed unlocking, so we scurried around to a little shop and asked them to do so. “No can do,” says the techie, “we’re not geared up for that phone.”

 So, off we trotted to another, bigger shop and, surprise, surprise, they couldn’t do it either. It appears then that we are stuck with a locked phone that nobody, other than Tesco, are able to unlock.

 Later in the day, after we returned to the boat, I phoned my dear brother Alan who, whilst we had been out, had paid a visit to the Tesco store in Harlow and discovered that our new phone should have been unlocked in store when we bought it. This means another visit to Harlow, although we could drive over to our nearest Tesco store that has a phone shop inside, but that would deny me the pleasure of an after-New Year drink with Alan. So, off I go to Harlow next weekend.

 Staying with the subject of iPhones, I’m still having no success with my new phone either. I am still unable to access my account at Absolute Email from it and I am still unable to download any apps, simply because I am unable to log in to my new Microsoft account. This particular iPhone is a Windows one and has given me no end of trouble. So much so that Alan has now agreed to give me his old Galaxy 3, which is already on 02 tariff and works perfectly. If Alan wants my phone in a swap, that’s fine by me, otherwise I’ll reset it to its original settings and sell the darn thing. I’ll be glad to get rid of it too.

 Monday 29/12/14

 While we were in town on Saturday I also called into the ‘Three’ shop and asked why my Epson Wireless Printer wouldn’t work with my new 4G WiFi unit. The answer was very simple really; all I had to do was re-install the printer software. So, yesterday afternoon, after our visit to the club; I know, not the best time to be tackling something technical; I set to and re-installed the Epson software.

 The re-installation went well, except for one minor problem, the printer doesn’t work at all now, not even with the USB lead plugged in. Isn’t that great?

 This morning I decided to carry out a System Restore and took the laptop back to 24th December, which was the earliest Restore Point I could go back to. All other Restore Points were about the re-installation of the Epson software. Whether or not this has been successful won’t be known until I try the printer later. However, since one of the programmes that were installed yesterday, doesn’t now appear in my list above the Start Button, I’m hoping all is now well, even if I still have to use the USB lead.

 In addition to the printer problem we also found that, despite being told Wifey’s new SIM would work within 24 hours, it still wasn’t up and running yesterday evening. So, if it is still not working this morning we’ll have to take another bus ride into town, at which time I can have another chat with the staff at ‘Three’ about the printer. Hopefully I’ll speak to somebody who knows what he’s on about.

 Tuesday 30/12/14

 After returning my laptop to an earlier date via the Restore facility, I then visited the Epson site to ask them how to correct the problem with the printer. Later in the day I found their automated reply, which told me that someone would contact me. Sure enough I received another email from them this morning, which told me to check their Knowledge Base. In other words they have no idea what to do! I haven’t checked to see if it works yet, but will have to do so later today. You never know, I might just be lucky.

 It was such a beautiful day yesterday that, at about midday I suggested we take a drive over to Daventry Country Park. We probably arrived there at 12.15 or so and started walking along the path by the side of the lake. Normally we would walk for about 20 minutes or so but we just carried on walking until, about an hour later we arrived back at the car park.

 Now, you might suppose that this kind of walk is not unusual, and you would probably be right, depending upon your own circumstances. However, for me this is quite a feat, because my calf muscles would normally seize up on such a walk. Instead I found it quite rewarding as I haven’t been able to walk that far in ages. We haven’t checked the length of this walk but, at the steady pace that Alex set, it must be around four miles, and the last time I managed such a walk was with Rusty on the Llangollen, and that was several years ago.

 Today, of course, is a rest day. Well, it certainly is for me!!

 Yesterday morning, whilst browsing through eBay products, I spotted a book about how to make a banjo. It looked quite interesting and, compared with newer books on the subject; the banjo depicted on the front cover looked quite old. Indeed the book was written in 1926 and the vendor does describe it as ‘an antique banjo’.

 Anyway, not wishing to waste money on something I might never use, I gave it a miss. The listing ended at around midday and I do like to give these things a bit of thought before I buy.

 I mentioned this to Wifey while we were walking around the lake later and, between us we decided that perhaps I should have bought it after all. “Too late,” I said, “the listing ended earlier today.” However, just to be sure I checked again this morning and, much to my joy and amazement, it had been relisted, so I bought the book. Whether I actually make a banjo is debatable but, since I do have plenty of spare time, I might just do so.

 Over recent days, when we’ve been sitting and reading and listening to the radio, we’ve noticed some odd behaviour from Alex. Suddenly, quite unexpectedly, he’ll jump up and look around himself as if he’s heard somebody outside wandering around. But, when we look out of the window there’s nobody to be seen.

 Yesterday afternoon we suddenly realised what was setting him off. It’s an advert on Classic FM, which includes the sound of a doorbell. This tells us that our new pooch had not been abandoned in Ireland, but had lived in a house at some point before being sent to a rescue centre. This would also account for the fact that he does obey some common commands, like sit and stay and even fetch. Once again we have to wonder why nobody had even asked to see him during the six months he spent at Dog’s Trust.

 Wednesday 31/12/14

 Well, so much for Epson Customer Services. I received another, very unhelpful email from them this morning, telling me my printer will not work on a mobile WiFi system. Strange that, because it certainly did so on my old 3G WiFi.

 I suppose I’ll now have to go out and buy another printer, but I’ll have to be sure it will work with my new WiFi. Some companies are just useless when dealing with customer’s enquiries. All they seem able to do is point you to their Knowledge Base, through which it’s necessary to wade through countless problems that other owners have encountered.

 On a much lighter side, today is the last day of 2014, and a very cold one at that.

 So, I’ll post this now and wish you a very Happy and Healthy New Year.

 Dave, Sheila and Alex

 

 

 

 

 

 

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