Sunday, February 22, 2026
Time for tea.
Using cards at tesco checkout
The first success came with a passkey from NW.
Then it seems to skip the bother of a passkey and just use the card.
Since I will be walking to Tesco for most day to day shoppibg, I may nwver be asked again for the key. But I hope I remember it.
M
Printer on the blink
Serious problems with the printer. No idea about the problems yet.
Seems to think it has two interfaces, rather than one, and it is always trying to use the wrong one.
I think I will have to start with the pc/ microsoft links first.
M
played fives
Gareth picked ne up for regular tuesdays fives.
A good turnout, welcoming me back from the,dead. Played probably one and a half games, playing my full quotient. This was more than I expected, and left me tired but pleased.
Won the games, if I remember correctly.
Watch the rest of the e vening and gareth returned me home.
Thanks to all for a wonderful welcome back.
M
orientation of garden scene
Continuing the corner building saga, the buildings are significantly taller than the features along the joint boundary, and dominate as seen from our house. This actally makes more sense of the boundary than previously.
But it was not allowed for when the neighbour's garden was designed, and it unbalances its whole design. They should have had a line of orchard trees generously in from the fence. Instead it is a concrete path with small plants eithwr side.
No wnonder they detest the new building. Where as we think it completes the original georgian/ Edwardian design.
M
new houses at the corner
The junction ar the end of the road, originally had four massive buildings, one at each corner. One was bpmbed and destroyed in ww11.
They foolishly allowed a bungallow to be built in its place, which completely unbalanced the junction's appearance.
The new replacement for the bungallow is another large three storey block of flates with an elaborate edwardian style roof. Much better.
The junction is beginning to look sane again, after 70 odd years.
M
Next door hedge cutting
Next door like prunning neighbours hedges and trees right up to the boundary.
Now I think this is counter productive. It stimulates vertical growth over the years, producing tall thick trunks on the boundary, of considerable height. Surely this is not what they want to achieve.
It is better to let these shoots woth branches get to a height, where they naturally bend over, and that allows you to better control the height with judicial pruning, taking out the most vertical growths. This will make for a much more attractive lower bushy growth.
Ah well, if they want to be foolish, let them be.
M
End of driving
I think it is time to stop driving, and using taxis and public transport.
Of course, I could still drive if I wanted to, but in reality nobody should be driving in a few years time. The final automisation of driving must be soon. Particularly for taxi services.
Since the honda is worth nothing, it seems right to get rid of it now, and not replace it.
It will be interesting what happens to the driving test ultimately. I guess that there may be automatic liciences for those using automatic cars, ie no test. And a variety of tests above that for partucular driving features.
So I may yet have a driver's licience, but only for totally automatic driving. I guess one may even have these for driving your taxi where you want it to go.
Food for thought.
M
tired out
Very slow getting awake this morning, and rest on bed after lunch.
Hope I can manage lamb's liver for supper.
M
penshurst place
No maize maze any longer. Not seen as paying its way.
Just opened for the year. Samuel and Isabel seemed to appreciate it.
I still expect the prices from forty years ago, so surprised quite how much a vist costs nowadays. But very enjoyable.
Isabel and I talked about the amazing pruning operation they do every spring.
Nice skoda drive, and the map chose the right route.
M
Friday, February 20, 2026
Katherine and children are here tomorrow
I must get some large round potatos tomorrow morning, if there are none in the fridge at the moment.
Damn, only small ones.
Weather is horid now so will try in the morning.
M
printer problems
Struggling with this. I am not sure what went wrong, but i am failing to print anything.
Watch this space
M
tesco passkey not requested
Despite lots of beeps, which i failed to understand, I did use the machine checkout successfully. It did not request my passkey.
So presumably, using the passkey yesterday gives me a free run for a bit.
Found some of the rarities in store, such as lambs liver, non- cheddar cheese.
Not sure if using the nat west card to pay automatically assumes visa, which I then clear at the end of the month. Will need to check.
M
Thursday, February 19, 2026
reading glasses.
Does anyone buy the expensive ones? The dirt cheap ones from china seem to be everywhere.
I bought 3 for 5pounds. And they are fine for close up work, such as typing this.
The ones from opticians cost the earth, and the online opticians, I am finding difficult to find nowadays.
M
new bread maker
The old one kicked the bucked in brutal fashion. Basically the drive shaft and paddles self destructed. The machine was ancient, getting on for 20 years perhaps, with only minor replacements.
Bought a new version from same model from Amazon, which was delivered within 24hours at no cost, and bread made the next day. Only problem was that the flour was a bit old and kept on the small side.
M
good shopping etc
Had a good time, getting trained by NAT west, and reading glasses from the shop opposite the old baths next to the library. The latter were 5 pounds for three, so spectacular value.
Stopped on a high
M
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
missing glasses
Could not locate my reading glasses. They were in plain sight, but difficult to see, through a number of factors.
How do you avoid this.
.. garish colours
.. build special home
.. have a spare pair
M
who is your doctor?
I really do not understand the NHS system. It looks as if doctors who at some stage officially became your doctor can continue dishing out prescriptions if they decide to. That is effectively they can assume the paperwork is always lagging, and it is safer for the patient, to continue supplying if they request things.
I just had delivery from two stages in the past.
Looks as if the system could be misused, and it should be monitored
M
BT beeping
Finally solved this problem. Turns out that top kitchen machine, which did not beep, was the problem. I deleted a couple of items the looked vaguely unnecessary, and all was sweetness and light on the other two phones. The surprise was that the top kitchen phone itself was happy with these items.
Not helpful. No helpful messages. Poor design
M
Monday, February 16, 2026
cleaned up tablet
Not many changes
Still uncertain about charging. I get to 20, and it goes down even if still plugged in. Must leave overnight.
M
Sunday, February 15, 2026
Tesco morals
When paying at a till, I had to use cash, as I did not have a pin number for any credit card. I did fumble a bit getting some small change out of my purse, but I was not aware of any falling to the hard floor. But then I noticed a couple of two pound coins on the floor, and wondered if they might be mine. The cashier insisted that they should be considered mine. Then I found even more coins on the floor, and again the instruction. I think I would have heard if they had all fallen. Anyway, I took them. I think they should have a charity box at hand to deal with this.
I should point out the thinness of the staffing, given the number of customers. But I still prefer my solution.
Martin
Saturday, February 14, 2026
driver's licence to the rescue
Gosh, the security in the banks seem to increased dramatically, and not very intelligently. They must have been hit hard by something.
Just to fix a future meeting, I had to identify myself. All bank cards ignored. Bus pass and library cards ignored. But a driver's licence was ok. How about a little sheet saying what you need to bring to the arranged meeting.
Madness
M
lots of nasty spam
Not quite sure why this is happening now. I also seem to be having network issues. Could be unrelated.
M
WiFi on the blink
Not sure what the problem is. Seems to affect iPad and tablet, but have not tried others.
M
m and s
Just found out that I already had an m and s account, together with strong password.
A bit confused as to when I constructed this. But it may be useful.
Tesco's next.
M
ordering a matrix of folders on android
On very recent Android version, I got stuck trying to arrange a rectangle of folders on the screen. It kept on moving folders that I did not want to move, and other quirks. I slowly realise the moving more than one position up or down was fraught with issues.
Only regained control by
- creating a hole
- swapping neighbours only.
This worked well.
M
First bath since September
Going to have a proper bath for the first time in about six months.
Yes, I did get the odd shower with a nurse or two, but this will be a blissful laze.
M
look and feel of current apps on portable devices
I am realising quite how much some of the standard applications have changed recently. It is all so much more hand gestures, rather than mouse / keyboard control. I like it, but sometimes am at a loss to know what I should do next. The integration with things like PayPal are now massively better.
Running a historic series of devices, is getting increasingly problematic. But that is progress.
I feel Microsoft has lost it completely. Apple are ok in their chunky of the market.
M
found scandals
I am blind as a bat.
It is now the muddy old shoes that I have to find.
M
