Sunday, July 26, 2026
Applemac unmendable
Went to church, and eventually saw the team of three who have been investigating.
They have played around with various diagnostic key strokes, with great success, including a small apple logo. It shows it is doing some basic startup routine. But it never seems to continue to the main operating system.
They doubt if it is mendable, and whether money on a mend would be better spent on a newer second hand machine. Maybe £200 .
I will wait a bit before deciding what to do.
M
repair shop
Normal chaos. Rather busier than normal. Doubt if I will be seen.
M
BT
Are being hopeless at helping me. Basically they dont realise that byte are shown as different characters depending on the machines origin. A dollar sign might be a pound sign in a different country.
So typing in a password on a rarely used machine might be chaotic.
I just hope I can get to a person during the week.
And also i do not recognise a mobile by the last four digits of its telephone number.
M
it was J
His voice has changed. He must have had something removed near his face, and it has altered his speaking voice.
Who knows what. It is wierd seeing him talk, and not recognising it.
M
tesco ad
Not sure how this happened, but when I had got back home, I found the phone was in a tesco text ad.
Could it have been activated in some way at the till? It was a little unnerving.
I will have to do a controlled experiment.
M
rain
We had a short shower. Not heavy, and soon all signs of it had gone. But for the area of the whole plot, there must have been quite a bit, if only cooling the ground a bit.
M
Saturday, July 25, 2026
apple mac
Could it have suffered from cold and damp, over the winter when I was ill?
Maybe it just needs warmth. It is not clear what made it start normally that one time.
I will put in the airing cupboard as a trial.
M
J soundalike
A voice like J's, but slightly different, was emanating from somewhere inside, this a.m. I could not hear words, but it sounded like an accentless English.
Is this a brother? And if so, does this indicate how serious the illness is?
Maybe S has been open about his condition earlier in the year, and assumes we have heard on the grapevine. In which case her comment about new knees is actually rather good.
M
Downtime?
Possibly there are occasions when they service the database used on this software. If you try to do an immediate upload it will then fail, and it will be in the waiting queue. The normal way out will then work, would be my guess.
M
bt connection
I am starting to think something is wrong with the BT connection. Wrong colour. However things seem to work probably through an old router that is connected.
I need to find the BT app on the old laptop still running Microsoft.
M
Friday, July 24, 2026
alexa
Some of the new security is a pain.
I have been trying to clear the existing round device of my settings so that I can give it to T. It has sent me on a wild goose chase.
It seems intent on installing a version of Alexa on every machine I have. So fine but it is not quite what I wanted to do.
Anyway I will continue.
M
Thursday, July 23, 2026
post office
I wonder how the small shop and post office will manage. Will find out posting Isabel's birthday card tomorrow.
M
bus service
The road by Tesco is shut for a bit. I saw no 7 on the a26 at the zebra crossing!
Not sure where bus stops will be, but I think there may be one before the zebra crossing. No idea going the other way. Maybe there will be temporary stops set up.
M
my guess
Low hedges as boundaries.
All current fencing removed
Heavy pruning of all existing bushes
Grass basically everywhere. Easy mowing layout.
Some large tubs with small covering plants.
Some sitting areas, front and back.
Pruning back neighbouring trees and hedges almost the the boundary.
No garden shed, contractors will bring in anything required
M
sept 1st
Allegedly when the sale / promotion of the flats starts. They will surely want the site looking more like a garden that is visible and has views.
Definitely watch this space as the question of the boundary fencing / hedging is quite a major issue, and will require a lot of work.
But good to increase the time pressure.
M
next door
Did not see J today. Maybe in care home. One of sons plus family came late evening maybe after visit. S may have been with them.
So basically only confirmation that it is slow change, but nothing about direction.
M
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
problem sorted
I was having difficulty publishing an item, which then was in some intermediate storage. You would go through the motions, but nothing moved.
But sometimes it did.
Answer is that if you have not recently published something successfully, it treats you as a potential threat, and won't do anything. However if you have successfully published something recently, it will be perfectly happy to do it many times.
So if you have problems, just first publish something new. You can always delete it when you have finished.
M
daily checkup?
Looks as if J goes daily to some medical centre, presumably for a routine check on his condition. Presumably if they are not happy he would be kept there overnight.
He apparently was not looking great when he came home this evening.
M
Met S
Only news was that J wants a knee replacement. No other medical info or comments.
It is plain to see that he has some other current issues. Even if I am guessing wrongly about them, she is hardly stating the whole truth.
It may represent a strategy to hide things, that J has enforced. Unpleasant.
He appears to be currently at home, but lying low. He may be exerting all his energy to show how well he is. But I am afraid it has the opposite effect. And getting S to hide things, just compounds it all.
Just take more care of yourself and particularly others.
M
rules for Waitrose
Obviously I can choose anything to buy at Waitrose. But somethings are better bought at Tesco's or Lydl.
Dairy is fine at Tesco's. The Greek style yogurt made in the UK seems fine, and is cheaper.
Sausages at Tesco's is good.
Most of the veg and fruit seem ok.
Soups and ready meals are better at Waitrose. This mostly a variety issue, rather than a quality. Ditto cheeses.
Chickens at Tesco are often the wrong size.
Panna cotta not a Tesco's
I feel happier at Waitrose for kitchen and loo rolls. Ditto biscuits, though Lydl are often ok.
Bread stuff much safer at W's, ditto chocolates,
Martin
Soaps not bothered.
sweet potato
Cooked in with the chicken, normal scrub before, was great success. Will find out how it is cold.
M
Monday, July 20, 2026
Parsnips
Just don't seem to be available in Tesco. Check Waitrose tomorrow.
M
Sunday, July 19, 2026
building works at the corner
It really is time that they start on the underground garage and the garden and boundaries.
All the current fencing with Jonathon's garden is owned by the builders. What they do with levels will make a profound difference to the looks and workings of J's garden. I would normally forsee a big argument, but J's health may rule him out.
I think that they need a fairly open boundary, giving some long distance views to the ground and first floor flats. This is the total opposite to the previous strategy, which cut off basically all views.
It will be fascinating what they do.
M
beans
At this time of year, it is either non-native fresh or frozen beans.
I am tending to think that it might be better to have fresh all the time, and avoid frozen veg.
A difficult decision.
M
spinach
Worked out a better arrangement for steaming. Basically fill half the bottom of the steamer, and the add all the rest. Makes the spinach shrink to a blob, that it the easy to divide. It does not get entangled.
M
visits
The couple in the top floor, looked as if they might have visited J this afternoon. Went without parents or son.
Of course a guess, which T hates. I think it helps to imagine what is happening. There are not enough facts to recreate reality.
If I was in their slightly precarious position, I would certainly judge this move as positive. Well done.
M
