Winter 2014/15: Crick 12

Saturday 7^th March to Friday 20^th March

 Monday 9^th March

 Yesterday was a really bright day and it started out that way, but this morning has started with a sharp frost. Hopefully the sun will come up and dispose of the frost on the car, because we are going shopping at Sainsbury’s; our fridge is virtually empty.

 I have been going through the Instruction Videos for the Draw 4 Profit programme and, having messed up the positioning of the Patterns and Brushes, I now have that sorted. However, when studying Alan Taylor’s videos, he seems to have a multitude of ‘layers’ to choose from, whereas I have none at all. This is probably because I have yet to open a photo on which to work Gimp’s magic. I’ve probably tried Alan’s patience enough for now, so I’ll wait until I need to make my first cartoon.

 Tuesday 10^th March

 What a beautiful spring day we started with. So much so that, after delivering the car to the local garage for its MOT, we took the boat round to the diesel point and topped up. We were then met with a very pleasant surprise, the diesel was just £0.65p per litre. That’s down from £0.80p when we last topped up in January. Luvly Jubbly!!

 I’m slowly getting the hang of Gimp and hope to try working with one of the templates that came with it soon.

 Wednesday 11^th March

 Well, I thought yesterday was a fine day, until I heard back from the garage. Malcolm, the owner of said garage, said to me, “I need you to come up here and see something for yourself.” So, I met him at the gate and he took me to the garage and put the car up on the lift.

 He then pointed to several points on the break pipes; those places where they are supported by a small bracket; and suggested that the pipes were leaking fluid at those points. However, when I rubbed my finger along the pipes, all I found was dirt and grime; as you would expect from a 12 year old car.

Just to make sure, he sat me in the car and had me push the brake pedal down while he checked them again, but still no oil coming through. At this point I suggested that, perhaps it was just condensation – I didn’t like to say he was imagining things.

 Unfortunately the car had still failed the MOT, because there was a considerable amount of rust around the sill, just forward of the offside wheel arch, so a plate needed to be welded there. Sadly, that wasn’t the end of the story, he also pointed to the front discs, which were badly worn, as were the pads.

 So, we now have major surgery being performed on my lovely, little Alfa, all of which, along with the MOT, will hit me with a bill for about £250.

 And a great day was had by all. It’s not really all doom and gloom though because, when I suggested I should trade the Alfa in, Malcolm didn’t think there was enough wrong with it yet. “It’s still a sweet little car. You should keep it for a while yet. Besides which you wouldn’t get very much in a trade-in.” Well, that’s nice to know!!!

 Thursday 12^th March

 My estimate for the Alfa was a little short. I phoned Malcolm at the garage yesterday afternoon and, with the welding, brake discs and pads, and the MOT, I’m now looking at £320. Still considering the age of the car, a mere £26 per month for repairs, is not too bad. Apparently the brake pipes; that Malcolm thought were leaking; weren’t!!

 Today we’ll be taking the bus into Rugby and I’ll be collecting the Alfa when we get back.

 Saturday 14^th March

 I’ve just been checking my emails and something very strange has occurred. I received an email from Frank, a computer whiz in Harlow, asking me if I had emailed him with a particular message. The message had been sent to my old RAF pal, Alan Oxley, back in February 2013, when we were at Mercia Marina. At least, that’s who I think I sent it to.

 Anyway, at the time we were having the hull of the boat re-painted and, while that was being done we took a week away in a cottage in the Peak District. I was apologising for not being able to meet up; or something like that; because we would be away.

 My question is, how could my computer send an old message to somebody for whom it wasn’t intended? Spooky, eh?

 Wifey took the bus into Northampton yesterday morning, so I took the opportunity to move my tools from the old and dilapidated box they were in, to a new one with wheels and a lid. Much better!! And much tidier too.

 I also moved our WiFi unit to the front starboard window, which is where it is usually kept when we are cruising. We, been having so much trouble with the Internet of late, that I decided to unplug it from the antenna and let it stand alone. So far at least, it seems to be behaving itself, which suggests to me one of the following: Either the antenna is not up to the job, or it too needs to be moved to that part of the boat. It probably also needs to be pointed in a different direction but, until I get one of Wifey’s new flower boxes up on the roof, and strap the antenna to a new and longer pole, I won’t be able to prove that theory. If it doesn’t rain today, perhaps we’ll do just that.

 The flower boxes need feet at each corner, so as to lift them off the roof, and I need to measure the corner positions from the curved roof and cut off some pieces of a broom handle and screw them on. Only then will I be able to fit the antenna. Does that make sense?

 We are now in the market for a new laptop; this one has become rather slow and, despite my best efforts at cleaning it up, still remains that way. So, with that in mind, we’ll be popping off to PC World today, just to see what they have available. I rather fancy another Acer, but I’m open to other ideas.

 Monday 16^th March

 Whilst Wifey was in Northampton on Friday, I took the opportunity to give myself a strip wash. The water was good and hot and, as there was plenty of it, I also washed and trimmed my hair; I have one of those thingies that hold a double sided blade.

 Anyway, later in the evening, when we turn the heating on for washing-up water, the water didn’t seem to be as hot as we would expect. Thinking perhaps we hadn’t had the heating on long enough, we thought no more of it. Then, as is our usual habit, we switched the heating on again at 8.30 pm, so as to have enough hot water for our morning wash, and on Saturday morning, when the water was only tepid, we realised something was wrong.

 I phoned Dave Hull, a local engineer, later in the morning and, when I described the symptoms, he immediately knew what was wrong and said he would be along today to replace a part in the system. In one way that’s great, but it also means even more expense after spending £320 on the car.

 I’ve said it before and I repeat it here, if anybody out there thinks living on a boat is cheap, think again!! Also, not knowing when Dave will be here, kind of puts paid to our planned visit to PC World.

 Tuesday 17^th March

 Dave Hull came along as promised and, sure enough he knew what the problem was. Apparently this is a common problem with diesel heating systems and the lack of heat is due to the pump choking up. This pump uses a very small amount of diesel for heating; less than half a litre per hour; so the inner delivery pipe is only about 2mm in diameter, which doesn’t need much in the way of muck to block it. Sadly there’s no way of repairing the pump, so that’s another £200 up our shirts.

 I’m now wondering what the third nasty surprise is going to be!!

 This Sunday we’ll be enjoying the company of the Kennett family at the annual family bash, which we two and my brother Alan and his wife Val, are all looking forward to. If it’s anything like last year we’ll have lots of fun and photo-taking.

 Under normal circumstance we would put our pooch in kennels for the day and pick him up the following morning. This year however, a fellow boater, who also has a Jack Russell, will be looking after Alex for the day. Fortunately Crick is only about 1½ hours’ drive away, so we’re saved the added expense of an overnight stay in a hotel. And, thank goodness for that!!

 Wednesday 18^th March

 The weather has changed for the better and, although we had a frost and foggy start to today, it bodes well for a sunny day. This is just as well, because we’ll be taking the bus into Rugby this morning and will probably stay a couple of hours. Wifey is looking to use her Pitney-Bowes Christmas vouchers at M&S, so we’ll probably need that extra time.

As for me, well, I’m still looking for a new laptop and, to this end I have contacted the online company that sold me this VAIO. Unfortunately it only has 4GB of RAM and I feel a little more would be better. I’ve ‘cleaned’ it up to some extent, but it still takes an age to boot up. Hopefully I’ll find something better at a decent price. What with all the expense we’ve had this past week, I could do with some luck.

 Friday 20^th March

 Our friendly, neighbourhood boat engineer, Dave Hull, turned up this morning and fitted the new heater pump; that’s another £240.00 up our shirts. March is always full of regular expenses, such as RCR, MOT, Quarterly Moorings, and CRT Licence. But the additional care and heater repairs have hit us a bit harder than normal. I suppose the answer to this annual problem, would be to put more money aside for such contingencies.

 We took a drive over to Daventry yesterday in hopes that we might find Hammond’s Chop Sauce at Waitrose. Alas, they don’t do it either so, since Wifey is going into Northampton again on Monday, she’ll give the local Morrison’s a try. Our own bottle is getting a bit low, but we also need some for my brother, Alan.

 I also received an email from the guy who sold me this Sony VAIO and, in his opinion I have a laptop with a pretty good spec. So, he’s now going to keep his eye open for a newer i5, which is the new generation model.

 Now, the weekend is almost upon us, so I think this would be a good time to post this blog.

 Take care folks; we’ll see some of you on Sunday at the Kennett family bash.

 Dave, Sheila and Alex.

 

 

 

 

Winter 2014/15: Crick 11

Sunday 15^th February Saturday 7^th March

 Monday 16^th February

 Sunday went as well as can be expected, considering the dingy weather. As is our usual habit, we first walked up to the Co-op and then, at around midday, we walked up to the club. I say up because from the marina it is a slightly uphill walk to both of these.

 As is sometimes our habit, we bought a pizza for our evening snack. Due to the fact that we have crisps and mini cheddars at the club, we only have a light meal in the evening. We don’t even bother with chips to go with the pizza. A stomach day of rest, you might say.

 Today I have no idea what we’ll be doing. The weather is still a bit dingy and, when I took Alex out earlier, it was trying to rain, so we probably won’t be going anywhere, other than the shop for the Mail.

 Tuesday 17^th February

 You just gotta laugh at that Ed Balls, haven’t you? Out there in Business-land is a millionaire/billionaire, who hasn’t paid a penny in Income Tax for 24 years, and Mr Balls wants to ensure that those folks who work cash-in-hand are made to pay theirs. No wonder the Labour Party are the bane of businessmen everywhere.

 This morning we have clear skies and a hard frost; a good morning for a long walk I would think. That’ll be up to the Co-op and around the block. Which block very much depends on which way Alex points his nose when we come out of the Co-op.

 Friday 20^th February

 A lot has happened since Tuesday, much of it of a personal nature and which I won’t dwell on. Suffice it to say I’ve been rather busy of late.

 Aside from the personal nature, some time has been spent on a new hobby and, quite possibly, a way to supplement my pension. I now have, on a thumb stick, a new pastime in the shape of Draw 4 Profit, by a man called Alan Taylor. If you are into art, and especially cartoons, you could do worse than checking him. So far I am getting to grips with a programme called Gimp. Due to the fact that we are unable to watch online videos, Alan kindly copied all the necessary information to a thumb stick, from which I will be watching the videos. There’s no point transferring them to my hard drive and cluttering it up even more than it already is.

 Apart from all that, we’ve carried on as normal.

 One thing of interest regarding our pooch, Alex, was the discovery that, as with Rusty, he hates the rain. For example, last night, when it came for his last walk of the day, he retired to his bed under the dinette. Ordinarily he would be on Sheila’s chair, all snuggled up with her. But, having heard the rain on the roof, he his himself away. Crafty beggar!!

 He’s also a hungry-gutted so and so too and knows exactly when it’s time for food. We feed him at about 4 pm, before which I’ll take him for a short walk. However, unlike his longer walks outside the marina, this mid-afternoon one is almost taken at a trot, with him at the full length of his lead and legging it for home. Once the back door is opened, he’s off like a shot to his food bowl.

 Right now, as I type this entry, he’s lying beside me on the dinette seat. And, we were told, he’s not a lapdog. Phooey!!

 Saturday 21^st February

 That stuff of a personal nature means a couple of days in hospital, which starts on Monday. So, I’ll do my best to enjoy my weekend, because I really don’t like hospitals, what with all the nightly goings on and disturbance of sleep. Still, it must be done, but at least I’ll get my Sunday drink.

 Sunday 22^nd February

 Re-Ed Balls, what a hypocrite, we now discover that he hasn’t asked for a receipt from his window cleaner, who has been cleaning his windows for 11 years. No doubt he, like all politicians, will find a way to squirm out of it. No wonder so many youngsters are refusing to vote, it people like Balls that give politics such a bad name.

 As for me, I’m off to hospital for a small op tomorrow morning, but I should be back here on Wednesday morning, with a bit of luck and a tail wind.

Thursday 26^th February

 On Monday morning I dragged myself and Wifey to Northampton General Hospital, where I was admitted for the removal of a small polyp that had taken up residence in my bladder. The op was successful and I was released from their care the following afternoon. Nuff said!!

 Now, although I had an uncomfortable night on Tuesday, my sleep last night was virtually back to normal. So, life continues apace until something equally ugly, or uglier still, rears its ugly head.

 Once more I am in a position to continue with the Cartoon stuff. But first I need to set up the Gimp programme and follow the training videos, all of which could take some considerable time. And, the best of luck to me!!

 Friday 27^th February

 Once more we have a frosty start to the day. However, with a bit of luck it will melt and we’ll have a sunny day. This is good because we need to go shopping at Sainsbury’s this morning.

 Having just now set up the Gimp programme, I’ll need to set aside some time today to study the Instruction Videos. There are plenty of them so this should keep me pretty busy.

 Saturday 28^th February

 There are times when things don’t go quite according to plan, and yesterday was one such time. In order to ensure that our engine doesn’t seize up, I try to run it at least once a month. Yesterday was earmarked for that operation but, as with all things mechanical/electrical, things go wrong from time to time.

 So, with keys in hand, off I trotted to start the engine and, brrrrr, was all I heard. Alright, what’s the matter now? To those of you with any mechanical bent would automatically assume a dead battery, and you would be right.

 The problem was down to the fact that we’ve been sitting here since the end of October and the batteries have been on charge since then, through our landline. Unfortunately, although our main domestic batteries are sealed, the starter one is wet and, over that period of time has completely dried out. Of course, this is entirely my fault because, having replaced the domestics for sealed units, I didn’t change the starter battery with the same type, hence the failure to start. Of course, I topped it up, but I don’t know if the overnight charge will bring it up to strength. It may well be that the plates are buckled and it is now useless. We shall see.

 A couple of years ago, when we were moored at Mercia Marina, a fellow boater kindly gave me a Sony Xperia Miro iPhone. The only thing wrong with it was that it had a cracked screen.

 Just recently; having upgraded twice since then; I decided to post it on eBay and received a message yesterday morning to say it had sold. I also received a message from the buyer, asking for a few details, and I promised to post it off this morning.

 In the meantime; during a period of light snoozing; it suddenly came to me that the buyer hadn’t paid for the phone. So, I quickly accessed my eBay account and dashed of a PayPal Invoice.

 I then received another message from the buyer asking if she could pop round to my home in Harlow and pay for it there, since she lives in North Weald. Well, I have several addresses with eBay and have used Alan’s address all this time, as a forwarding address for mail, so I could understand her believing that I still lived there. Having explained the situation I am now awaiting payment and will send the phone off on Monday morning.

 Now, Google is supposed to be the be all and end all of Internet search engines. Well, I’ve spent several hours over the past couple of days, searching for How to Build an A3 Light box, which I need for my new cartooning hobby. So far I’ve found just one, and I can’t say I’m impressed. For a start the person concerned uses white Chipboard for the box. How yesterday is that?

 Another idea offered by on other person, was to use a couple of A3 picture frames, hinged together and built onto a lightweight frame. But this only gave some very basic ideas, although I will give this some serious consideration.

 This will require a visit to Homebase or B&Q sometime, because they both stock frames and strip lighting, so I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with something. Once I have found the necessary parts for this project, I can also draw up my own plans and sell them on. Crafty Forsythe!!

 Sunday 1^st March

Well, according to the weather forecasters, this is officially the first day of spring. Now, although it has become somewhat milder of late, it’s still pretty chilly out there, especially in that north easterly wind, so spring seems to be holding back.

 After our failure to start the engine on Friday, due to a flat starter battery, we had another go yesterday afternoon and, I’m very pleased to say, the battery did its job.

 Dogs will be dogs’; I think most people will agree. But, why do they insist on behaving as if they never get fed? This morning I spotted our cheeky chappie, head turned slightly to one side and chewing on something; rather surreptitiously, I thought. Sure enough, when I stuck my finger in his mouth, there was a huge lump of bread already half way down his throat. It was a bit of a struggle, but I did manage to get it out.

 Rusty, bless her, was just the same, but she quite enjoyed the odd piece of rabbit pooh and, given half a chance, sheep dropping as well. Luckily she wasn’t prone to gobbling up other dog mess, and neither is Alex. But I do wonder what goes through their heads when they do this. Could it be a long term instinct from their days in the wild, when they simply didn’t know where their next meal was coming from? If so, how many centuries of living with us humans, will it take before that instinct is eroded? Who knows? Who cares??

 I’m still having trouble with finding a decent method for making a light box. Some of those I’ve seen online are not only expensive, but totally impractical, especially when we live on a boat. I’ve seen them made from cardboard big boxes, which would be OK for photographic use, but useless for tracing pictures.

 However, not to be put off and having received a call from my sister Carole yesterday, I have enlisted her aid in finding a really cheap one, or the plans for building one. I will keep searching though.

 Monday 2^nd March

 Just for a change we’re going to go into Rugby by car this morning. It has become quite tedious during the time we’ve been here at Crick, being tied to an hourly bus service. We usually catch the 09.40, which arrives in Rugby at about 10.10. The next bus leaves Rugby at 11.10, giving us an hour to do whatever needs doing. Sometimes it’s enough time, but there are occasions when even another 10 minutes would allow us to simply wander around some more, or guarantee a cup of coffee and scone.

 Today we have several shops to visit and I don’t think an hour will be enough time to cover all we want to do. So, car it is.

 We have the Kennett family bash coming up soon; on the 22^nd of March, to be precise; and I’ve been looking for somewhere to park the dog for the day. Having searched the Internet and found nothing reasonable close, I chanced to ask the lady at the Post Office yesterday, if she knew of anything nearby and, luckily for us, there’s a kennels just a few miles up the road, near to West Haddon. So, sometime this week we’ll be popping along there to check the place out.

 But first I need to get myself down to Harlow and visit with my brother Alan. Hopefully I’ll be able to make that for next Saturday, 7^th March.

 Well, maybe we won’t bother going to Rugby today. I’ve just opened the curtains and it’s now sleety out there; not a nice day for wandering around town. Me thinks we’ll chill out, along with the weather and pretend nothing’s wrong.

 Friday 6^th March

 Our near neighbour, whose name is Peter, also has a Jack Russell, whose name is Tommy. Just as we were on our way out on Wednesday morning, we asked Peter if he knew of anyone who would look after Alex for a few hours, whilst we’re at the family bash. He said that he would be happy to do so, except that he was about to go off cruising for three months. He then asked when the party was being held and, when we told him he then said, “Oh, in that case I’ll look after him. I’ll be just around the corner by then and you can drop him off on the way out and pick him up again on the return trip.”

 By ‘round the corner’ he meant just along the A5, on the way to Daventry. How lucky is that?

 Well, I’m off to Harlow today and will be back tomorrow.

 Saturday 7^th March

 Once again I enjoyed a few hours with my brother Alan, but this time on a Friday evening, rather than Saturday. Surprisingly enough the trip down was pretty easy and uneventful. We spent a couple of hours in The White Admiral, then enjoyed pork chops and veg for dinner. After a bit of TV I spent a very comfortable night in a cosy double bed. Smashing!

 This weekend will be devoted to a total chill-out, with a visit to the club tomorrow lunchtime.

 Now, as you already know, we have a 3G/4G Huawei WiFi Unit, attached to a 4G Lte antenna. We are still having problems with the Internet and we put this down to poor signal strength. So, I have been hunting around for an extension lead for this antenna, in the hope that raising it by 2 to 3 metres would improve matters.

 I have tried the ‘Three’ shop, but they haven’t a clue. I have tried Maplin’s, but they don’t even stock the necessary connectors, much less a complete lead. I’ve also tried Radiospares Online, but hunting around their site is the stuff of nightmares and could take many hours of searching.

 As a last resort I have contacted an eBay seller, who has these antennae listed and asked if he can help. My final and last gasp solution will be to cut the existing cable; which I am reluctant to do; and splice some twin cable, or coax, in order to extend it.

 On that thought I will leave you pondering and post this blog.

 Take care and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

 Dave, Sheila and Alex

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter 2014/15: Crick 10

Monday 2^nd to Sunday 15^th February

 Tuesday 3^rd February

 We took a run into Northampton yesterday morning and stayed a bit longer than expected; we left at 9am and were back on the boat just before 1pm. Alex was lying on Sheila’s armchair when we came in, but he didn’t seem to be his usual chipper self. Normally he can jump up the front step and off the boat very easily, but he just didn’t seem to have enough energy at that time.

 We kept an eye on him for the rest of the day, but he seemed to be very downcast. This morning I found a solid lump of matter and other material by his bed, which I assume he has thrown up sometime during the night.

 Anyway, I took him out for his usual morning walk, but he still seems short of energy. Even now, at 7.30am he is on his bed, whereas he would normally be staring up at me awaiting his breakfast. We’ll make an appointment to see the vet later today and have him checked out.

 Thursday 5^th February

 Yesterday we took a run over to Sainsbury’s for a weekly shop but, since it has been a couple of weeks since we last paid that store a visit, we came away with far more than usual. In fact we filled the trolley and two shopping bags up.

 Today we’ll be taking the bus into Rugby, because I need some new underwear and because, well, just because………. This afternoon I’ll be spending more time on the laptop, listing a few things on eBay on a 10 day auction. Why am I listing them today? Well, this is an idea I picked up some years ago. If you list your items on Thursday afternoon, and if you list it on a 10 day auction, then the listing will end on a Sunday afternoon, which is when most people will be available to bid on your items. Simple!!!

 The weather now seems to be warming up; even though we had more snow overnight; so I’m more hopeful of getting down to Harlow for Saturday.

 Alex seems none the worse for his lack of energy yesterday, so a visit to the Vet has been avoided. He’s a funny lad, and no mistake.

 Monday 9^th February

 I drove down to Harlow on Saturday morning and had two visits to make; one to my old work colleague Les, the other to an even older work colleague, Chris and his wife Marilyn. However, because Chris was going out with his son by 12 noon, I needed to leave a little earlier than usual.

 After giving Les a lift to her daughter’s flat we returned to her house for a cuppa and a chat, as we usually do. I then drove over to see Chris and Marilyn, where I had an even longer chat and a coffee. Dead on the dot of 12 noon Chris’s son Paul turned up and I left at the same time, to arrive at Alan’s place at about 12.30 – the traffic along Southern Way was very heavy.

 Before doing anything else I had to set up my laptop and list a few items on eBay. I could have done this on Alan’s computer, but I took the laptop in order to check its behaviour on his WiFi. I had been worrying that my laptop may have been at fault when I’m on the Internet. However, I had no problems on Alan’s system, so I have to assume it’s a signal problem here on the boat. This means I’ll have to drive over to Maplin’s sometime and see if I can get an extension lead for my antenna.

 We spent our evening in The White Admiral as usual, but it was pretty quiet in the Saloon Bar, because most of the regulars were watching the Spurs/Arsenal match. Spurs won, if you’re interested.

 The drive home was pretty quick; I love that Sunday morning drive up the M1, when it’s pretty easy.

 Today I have no idea what we’ll be doing; the weather is somewhat milder so we may take a run over to Daventry Country Park.

 Tuesday 10^th February

 The weather turned out to be really quite mild and sunny, so we did take that run over to Daventry Country Park. On the way out; after just a short-ish walk; we studied the main board that highlights the different walks, and discovered that the last time we visited the Park we actually walked for 2½ miles. Not since our 4 mile round trip on the Llangollen Canal, where we walked down to Horseshoes Falls, have I managed a walk of that length.

 Today will be rather more sedate as it’s changed to cold and foggy out there.

Wednesday 11^th February

 Well, as I mentioned yesterday, we didn’t do very much with our day, just a walk to the Co-op for a few bits and pieces, then chill out for the rest of the day.

 I’m still having problems with the Internet though. For example, I have purchased several items over the past couple of years, from a guitar tutor called Mike Herberts, who makes learning much more fun. However, he’s now come up with a new, fingerpicking video and has sent links to his demos. Unfortunately my signal here is so weak that I can’t actually watch them without having them stall after just a few seconds. Yes, seconds.

 What I really need to do is raise our antenna so as to have a better line of sight to the nearest transmitter. But, having scoured the Internet for possible suppliers, I’ve come to a full stop. I’ve even tried Maplin’s, who are usually pretty good at these things, but even they don’t stock extension leads to my WiFi unit. This is a twin cable and I’m reluctant to cut it and splice an additional length of plain cable to it. I may be able to raise it a few inches if we put one of Wifey’s flower boxes on the roof and positioning it closer to the window upon which the WiFi is mounted, but that will only succeed in raising it a few inches at most. I think it needs to be a few feet higher if I’m to get that stronger signal.

 What peeves me about this situation is that there are four transmitters in this area, and we still have a weak signal. Even the marina WiFi is pretty useless, so there’s no point reverting to that. Life’s a bitch, etc, etc!!

 The only thing I haven’t tried; apart from raising the antenna a few inches; is to point it in a different direction. But I have my doubts about that being any better. Still, I suppose it’s worth a try.

 Thursday 12^th February

 Well, we took the bus into Rugby yesterday and I paid a visit to the ‘Three’ shop, again! This time I asked where I might be able to find an extension lead to the WiFi unit. Naturally they were unable to help. Why do I even bother??

 Today we’ll take a drive over to Daventry and, before visiting the Pets at Home store for Alex’s food, we’ll call into Homebase, just in case they have the necessary connectors for an extension lead. I’m not hopeful, but I might as well take a look. You never know, I might come up with an idea. Like I said earlier, I’m reluctant to splice a piece of cable to the existing one.

 Friday 13^th February

 No joy at Homebase, but I did find the eBay listing for the 4G Lte antenna and have asked the vendor if he can help with the extension lead. Meanwhile, I repositioned the antenna to a slightly higher position, which has certainly improved matters, although not as much as I would like. So, I still need that extension lead.

 Saturday 14^th February

 Having emailed the vendor of the antenna on Thursday morning, I received a reply from him yesterday. My message to him was, could he help me to find an extension lead for the antenna, as I needed to raise it in order to get a stronger signal. There are times when I wonder how these people make a living on eBay because he said in his reply, “doesn’t the antenna work?”

 I’ve now had to go through the whole question and answer routine again, simply because this idiot hasn’t bothered to read my email properly. Still, not to worry, I’m sure I’ll find what I want eventually. Meanwhile the signal is somewhat improved now that I have re-positioned it slightly.

 Sunday 15^th February

 I’m not surprised that the vendor of that antenna was so befuddles by my question, because I received another message from him this morning and, from the wording of the message, he’s not completely au fait with the English language. However, he’s going to try to help – he says – but his engineers are on holiday (?) for 15 days. What? All of them? We’ll see!!

 Now, I’ve only written four pages of this blurb, but it is quite a while since I last posted, so I’ll do that now.

 Have a good week folks.

 Dave, Sheila and Alex.

 

 

 

Winter 2014/15: Crick 9

Sunday 18^th January to Monday 2^nd February

 Tuesday 20^th January

 I now have a new iPphone, the same as I bought Wifey for Christmas, a Samsung Galaxy Young 2. This is so much better than the Nokia Lumia 630 that I upgraded to a few months ago, because it’s not a Windows phone and therefore not tied to Microsoft. There’s nothing wrong with Microsoft I suppose, but I had so much trouble accessing and downloading apps, that I eventually gave up on it.

 A couple of years ago, at the behest of that ‘nasty’ brother of mine, I upgraded my old flip-top phone for a touch screen phone and, every time I touched the screen to scroll up or down, the darned thing would go to the item I had touched; most annoying. Anyway, I phoned the 02 shop and explained my predicament and asked what I could do about it. The answer rather surprised me, because I was told to sell it, which I did, to a company that buys these things. Alright, so I still had to pay for it through my 02 contract, but at least I got rid of the thing.

 The point I am making here is that, now that I’ve bought a better phone I can now sell on the Nokia, but this time I’ll list it on eBay.

 On Sunday morning we took a drive over to Tesco at Junction 1 and bought the above mentioned mobile, SIM Free of course. Wifey’s one is tied to Tesco; which uses the 02 signal, but ‘roams for others if the 02 one is not available. It cost a bit more than I paid for her one, but that’s probably because they were selling them cheaper for the Christmas season.

 Of course, come lunchtime we were safely ensconced in the local club, in the company of Alex, naturally.

 Yesterday was too cold to go anywhere, and today is even colder, but we might just take the bus into Rugby and pay a visit to the ‘3’ shop. Sometimes when I’m online and flittering about between eBay pages or similar, I get this web page from ‘3’ pop up, which suggests my Internet signal is a bit weak. The trouble is, I can’t log in to my account at ‘3’, simply because I don’t know how.

 This website recognises me when I do attempt to log in, because it welcomes me with a ‘hi David’ at the top of the screen. The problem seems to be because I don’t have a mobile phone account with them, only my WiFi unit and the login info asks for my telephone number; which was allocated to me when I first signed up and which I’ve never used. It also asks for the last six digits on the back of my SIM card, which I obviously don’t have, since I don’t have a ‘3’ phone.

 So, with all that in mind, and not wishing to run up a phone bill by calling them on my 02 mobile, I’ll have to pay them a visit in order to find out how to log in to my account. Yeah, long-winded I know, but at least it kept me busy on the laptop, and I’ve succeeded in typing two pages of gumpf!

 Friday 23^rd January

 I recently scanned through eBay, looking for finger picks to use with the uke and guitar. I found an interesting one that advertised metal picks that fit over the fingers and thumb and nestle up against the finger/thumb nail. They seemed to be just what I was looking for, so I sent for them. They took a while to get here because they came from China. Sadly the only one that fit was the thumb pick, the others were too small.

 Anyway, I contacted the seller and explained the problem and he replied asking for a photo of my hand and measurements of my finger and has promised to send a couple more thumb picks, which I can adjust downwards in size to fit my fingers. Now, that’s what I call a great after sales service.

 I called into the ‘Three’ shop earlier this week and asked how I could access my account online. They thought this should be an easy matter, until they realised that I only had a WiFi account and no mobile phone with them. Their only suggestion was that, if I still had the box that came with it, I could download an app and run my iPhone over that Sudoku type black and white picture and access my account from there.

 But, I don’t still have the box! If we kept all the boxes from items we had bought we’d need a butty dragged behind the boat. So, anyway I went back to the ‘Three’ site and tried again. It seems though that the only way to contact ‘Three’ is to phone them on a premium rate line. If I had a ‘Three’ phone it would cost me nothing. I finally gave up on this quest and have written to them asking why, just because I don’t have mobile with them, I am unable to access my account. I’m hoping they will email me with an answer, but I’m not holding my breath.

Today, just for something to do, we’ll be taking the bus into Rugby.

 Saturday 24^th January

 Yesterday was the first day in living memory when we haven’t had to race around Rugby, do our shopping and catch the next bus home, only an hour after arriving there. This time we only needed to visit Asda for a small amount of shopping, which gave us plenty of time for a coffee before strolling over to the bus stop.

 I received a message from the eBay dealer this morning, advising me that he had been unwell and apologising for the delay in answering my last message. He also suggested that, should I require any other items he has up for sale, then he could package that and the thumb picks together. I suspect he’s worried about eBay’s reaction to him selling off-site, if they ever found out. Alternatively he’s simply pulling a fast one and hoping I’ll spend more money with him. So, the question is, ‘will he send them or not?’ Hmmmm!!

 We don’t have anything special to do today, except perhaps getting some coal, so we’ll probably take a walk up to the Co-op for the paper and milk. Oh what an exciting life we lead!!

 Sunday 25^th January

 The Fuzz paid the marina a visit yesterday and attended a boat further along the same pontoon as we’re moored at. Goodness knows what they were after, but there were three of them and they had two cars in the car park. If somebody has had their boat broken into, I feel sure they would have spoken to everyone on this pontoon, if only to ask if we had seen anything suspicious. No doubt the local grapevine will filter down to us in due course.

 And that was the extent of our excitement yesterday.

 Today? Well, it’s Sunday. I think you can guess how that will go!!

 Tuesday 27^th January

 About six months ago I upgraded my mobile phone, from a flip-top basic one to a pretty Windows iPhone. Having realised my mistake, after spending hours with Alan trying to access the Internet with it, I finally decided to buy a different phone; in fact the same a Wifey’s; and sell the Nokia Lumia 630. Yesterday morning I listed the Nokia on eBay and was most surprised when, later in the day I received confirmation of the sale. Naturally I posted it off straight away.

 Having experienced such success I am now going to be taking photos of other stuff I want to sell and hoping to make a few bob. This will all help towards trading in the Alfa for something more sedate; like a Merc or a Jag; but I haven’t quite decided which yet.

 Thursday 29^th January

 We took the bus into Rugby yesterday to pay a visit to Ryman’s for packing boxes and found just two that would meet our needs. So far I’ll be able to post off a couple of old cameras.

 I also have a very old Yashica half-frame 35mm camera and, since it doesn’t have a user manual with it, I took a quick look online and managed to download a .pdf copy. This item will make it much easier to sell, I think.

 Friday 30^th January

 We had to go to Northampton yesterday and the weather stayed fine for the couple of hours there. But, later in the day we had a pretty heavy fall of snow, which gets Alex running around like a loony. He really can be quite a laugh at times. Last night we had even more snow and I’m hoping we don’t get any more today, because I’m supposed to be going down to Harlow tomorrow.

 We also need to go shopping today, so I’m hoping the roads will be clear. The weather has been worse further north, so I guess we should be grateful for that.

 You will probably remember the problem I am having in accessing my ‘Three’ account online. The trip to their shop in Rugby and emailing the company, well, I received a reply from the a few days ago advising me on how to log in. In short they told me to go to their home site and click on the Inbox, where I would find a password. Of course, knowing these people of old, there was no Inbox and therefore no password. However, there was a New Message icon at the top of the screen but, as you would have guessed, I was required to log in before I could read it. Here we go again.

 So, I have now sent another email and have attached two screen shots of their Home Page and the Log in Box. Maybe they will sort it out from there, who knows? But I’m not holding my breath.

 Monday 2^nd February

 I can now access my account at ‘Three’, thanks to a recent email from them. It seems that the User Name of ‘admin’ was also the Password, but they hadn’t made that clear in the earlier email. Anyway I’m now good to go.

 So, now to the weekend, when I should have been going down to Harlow, well, due to adverse weather conditions I didn’t make it. We had snow on Friday and some of Saturday, and then it miraculously cleared, by which time it was too late to change my mind. From then on it was a normal weekend; a bit of shopping Saturday and the club on Sunday.

 Just for a change though, we met up with Annie and Dave; who have a boat moored along our pontoon; and we had a nice chat with them. Also, and much to our surprise, the club filled up pretty quickly, which is quite unusual for a Sunday lunchtime. This is probably because people had been paid at the end of the month and could now afford to splash out. It did make a pleasant change to hear so many voices around us.

 This morning is probably the coldest we’ve had this winter. Indeed, it was so cold in the boat that I put the heater on at 5 am. It will be something of a job to de-ice the car this morning, and that’s for sure.

 So, that’s another week over, the lady who bought my Nokia for her daughter is well chuffed, and so is her daughter as it’s her first mobile phone. We still haven’t discovered why the police were here a few days ago, but there’s still time for that. Hopefully I’ll get down to Harlow next Saturday, because I really do need to bring Alan’s HiFi unit back and transfer some vinyl to CD.

 And that’s it for now.

 Take care folks.

 Dave, Sheila and Alex.