Wednesday 5th March – A day at the shops

A quiet day today, but sunny outside, so we went down town and a quick trip around the shops for a few small household items.  I also picked up a DVD from The Library on the way home (Riddick), which I watched this evening – it wasn’t too bad as these things go – and in between I have glued up the first section of the show rack, so it is ready for varnish.

Tuesday 25th February–An allsorts day

I got up around 9 am today, early for us, because there was a chance of a parcel delivery that we had rearranged – it actually came in the early afternoon.  After a quick breakfast (no milk so no cereal) I potted around in the garage finishing the current work on the shoe rack.  Also I sent a text asking the Sky Engineer when he might arrive – he didn’t arrive until late afternoon!  So, before I knew it the morning had gone and the online shop arrived from Sainsbury, but at least there were no substitutes.

After lunch it was a case of silly little jobs – make a fruit salad, prepare dinner and take the ladders upstairs for the engineer to access the satellite dish.  Then it was a bit more work on the shoe rack, but now I have run out of wood due to the problem with the split wood, which will be replaced on Thursday.  However, we are going to Wickes tomorrow to order some extra wood to make sure I have enough to finish the job.

The guy fixed the alignment on the satellite dish tonight, but we were both of the opinion i need a second bracket to stiffen the movement of the rod holding the dish – for now I am going to try to improvise something in wood.

Tonight I watched the worst European performance I have ever seen from Manchester United.  They looked like they couldn’t be bothered, or were exhausted.  Of course, we are unaware of any instructions from the manager, such as take the sting out of the opposition by slowing the game down, but they took any such instruction too far.  In addition, there passing was abysmal and the time they wanted on the ball was far too long.  Loosing 2-0 was the best they could hope for as they barely made any chances until the end of the game.  I think there was some influence on the performance from Moyes as I have never seen Manchester united make so many horizontal or back passes.  They really were negative and slow in this game and deserved everything they got.

Prague – Czech Republic and my favourite city

I think one of my earliest memories of “The News and Politics” involves the uprising in Prague and tanks in Wencelas Square, but what I didn’t expect was to visit this most beautiful of cities.  We first visited Prague in October 1991 as part of the development of a three-way research collaboration with Russia, The Czech republic and The UK.  It rained really heavily and all I remember was rushing across town in what seemed a maze of streets to a wonderful cheap bar, where we spent all afternoon drinking and eating with a Russian colleague.  The bill came to £10, which made me reaslise this city was going to something special for me, haha!

The funding for the collaboration with The Czech Republic was successful, as were several other grants, and I was able to visit Prague almost every year between 1991 and 2009.  I fell in love with this city and I must remember I am writing a Blog and not a book!  So, where do I start?  I suppose my first thing must be to thank everyone who I met and who made my viisits so pleasent.  I better apologise to all those who attended my seminars and didn’t quite follow my Geordie accent, or my arm waving approach to lecturing!  If you recognise yourself in the picture thanks for attending!

The city of Prague came through the second world war almost unscathed, despite an American bombing campaign and has something in common with Paris in that respect; although, I think it is more beautiful!  It sits on the Vltava river, which provides a beautiful centrepiece for the city, with the castle sitting at the top of the hill over-looking the whole of the city.  In turn, the centrepiece to the river is Charles Bridge, which dates back to the 14th Century and is one of the most beautiful bridges I have ever walked across.  However, this also provides a rapid introoduction to the biggest problem that Prague faces – its own popularity!  Charles Bridge is always a river of tourists, with local artists and sovenier sellers lining the edges of the bridge, it has lost some of its early appeal during that first visit in 1991.  But every visitor must stroll across Charles Bridge (early in the morning is a good idea) and into Malá Strana (“the Lesser Quarter”), which is full of bars and good restaurants.  A challenge is to find the restaurant with two hearts on the door, worth a visit for good Czech food if it is still there – they got badly damaged during the floods of 2002, but I believe it is still there.  Sadly the bar we ate in during our first visit has long disappeared, but there are so many other places to visit for good food.  My own preference is to try some the hospodas as these simple bar/restaurants are much more authentic.  The Institute, where I gave my seminars, is lucky enough to have two close by (the “Green House” and “The Black Swan”), but in the city centre near the Old Town Square there is “Futball”, which serves good food and genuine Czech cuisine.

I remember the first few times we walked around the city we soon became aware that an important part of “seeing” Prague is to look up at the buildings, the architecture is always magnificent, but also varied and is also accompanied by beautiful paintings and illustrations.  Hidden away from the city across one of the bridges near the island is one of the most beautiful café/restaurants, which is typical of the type of architecture that is common in Prague.

I could write about so many places around the city, but this will become boring eventually, so, instead a few thoughts about what makes the city special for me (apart from the architecture).  I think the first point is that you can sit in The Old Time Square (either at a bar, or just around the statue) and people watch – the city is always busy, there are jazz bands coming and going, or just the variety in people from all nations.  I have spent many a day sketching out a scientific paper while also people watching!  Tram hoping is one of my favourite ways to see a city and Prague is very good for this.  You can buy a ticket that lasts all week, which allows travel throughout the city and just swap from tram to tram.  You can occasionally jump off to visit the castle or some other passing landmark, but if you do this outside of the rush hour you really get a feel for the layout of the city.  Live music is the other thing I really like in Prague – usually this means visits to various jazz clubs, but also other types of music are played all over the city.  One example I liked from early visits was The Hotel Europa, which has a very Bohemian bar/restaurant at the front entrance, and we used to sit listening to a violin and piano entertaining the restaurant clientele – very pleasant!

If you have never been to Prague you must go, avoid the weekend if you don’t like crowds and hen/batchelor-parties, but visit the traditional Czech bars and restaurants.

Online shopping – one thought.

Hearing on the news today that Tesco planned to change their policy about launching hypermarkets, I got to thinking about what would be a good business plan!  Clearly, online shopping is working well and local Tesco Express stores work well, but one problem with online shopping is the occasional need for a few items that are not available in the local store.  Such a situation does not justify the normal delivery charge, and it is clear there is a reluctance to shop in a hypermarket for only a few items.  So, I suggest an online ordering system for up to five items, which could be collected at the local store at a prearranged time!

Anyone think that might be useful?

Posted from WordPress for Android

The 33rd TOFC Meeting – The Old Custom House, Portsmouth

This Friday was our first visit to this interesting pub, which is located at the Gunwharf complex near Portsmouth Harbour.  If you have never visited this site it is well worth your time, an old Naval Base that has been converted into a large complex of shops, cinemas, nightclubs and restaurants, The Old Custom House is a genuine pub serving real ale and located just off the heart of the complex.  As the name suggests, this building was the Customs House used by the Navy and it has maintained all of the original rooms (and their names) to provide an unusual atmosphere where every room has a slightly different feel to it.  We decided to book one of the rooms (Department M!) at one end if the pub as we hoped to get a long table to sit around (they always used to have a long table in the room we chose), but it turned out they split us across a number of smaller tables, which was a shame.  Spring is very slow to arrive this year and it was quite cold outside, which is a shame as Gunwharf is a lovely setting when the sun shines and, although this pub does not face the waterfront, outside seating is plentiful for those who enjoy gathering some vitamin D – I will be doing plenty of that next week at the cricket assuming it is not snowed off again!

As usual in Fullers pubs, the food was a good choice, but not cheap and the beer was well looked after and just over £3.50 a pint on average, which is why we had a slightly higher donation to the kitty than usual.  The food arrived reasonably quickly and there were no mistakes, which has become the norm these days (a good sign and an improvement on the early days of these gatherings).  I drank HSB, but I noticed a few different beers were consumed including some ESB, which is a hefty afternoon dink!

After recent meetings, this turned out to be a smaller collection than I anticipated (13 of us this time), which made the room seem a little empty – they are deceptively big rooms.  We also seemed slightly more subdued than normal; although, there was still plenty of chat amongst the two groups that formed around two tables.  It was nice to see faces that haven’t been around for a while and I was glad to hear people still enjoying these gatherings.  Also a surprise was that we broke up earlier than usual, which meant Kathy and I ended up a Patisserie Valerie for a sticky bun (Kathy) before we went for the train.

As you know I don’t mention people’s names here, but I do want to send our best wishes to one of our regular members, whose husband was at this meeting, and who has been in hospital for some time.  I am sure everyone wishes her well and a full recovery.

An evening out – The King Rufus, Chandlers Ford

Yesterday’s weather made it such a wonderful day (for a change) that we got ourselves ready after lunch and took a trip on the Bluestar No1 bus to Chandlers Ford.

This is quite an easy journey from where we are as the bus stops just outside the estate and only takes 20 min to get to Chandlers Ford.  We had not been before, so we were unsure what to expect.  Chandlers Ford seems very spread out and the railway station, in particular, is a long way from what is really the town centre – we alighted at the Town Centre.  There is a small shopping area just next to the bus stop and we went around there first, discovering a useful hardware shop, which we will have to revisit, and a lights and furniture shop that is a real treasure trove of items –  we spent a long time in there!  However, we then quickly realised that there wasn’t much else to the town centre, which was a little disappointing, but as we walked along the main road we saw a pub that we had seen before from the bus and decided to visit.

The King Rufus gives the outward appearance of being what I call “an estate pub“, which means an often bland interior and limited real ale, but I was wrong and we discovered a pleasant place for a drink and a bite to eat.  Inside the main entrance you face the bar and a small area from which you can be taken to a table in the restaurant.  We sat in an area that is a part of the bar; although, we were a little separated from the main bar area, which is to the right when you come in.  The bar had two real ales and I drank some of The Old speckled Hen, which was excellent and I note that the pub is Camra rated.  The pub looks very modern inside and this suggests it has been renovated fairly recently.  The restaurant area looked very pleasant indeed and would be a good location for a meal – we ate in the bar area as we decided we liked our seats near the window.  The pub was also warm and comfortable – all very good signs.  The menu was reasonably substantial and offered both a two-4-one meal arrangement and a full a la carte listing.  The food we had, was good and very tasty, so we can recommend this pub.  A nice evening out and the return bus ran on schedule!

Playing music from my laptop – a Bluetooth solution

I readily admit that the technology I am about to describe is nothing new, or anything complicated, but I just wanted to explain how easy this was to set up and how it solved my problem for playing music.

So first, what was the problem?  Well, I digitized all my vinyl and CDs some time ago and I have all of the music on my laptop.  I have set up the music system in the new house with the amplifier attached to a DVD player, which will play CDs, the TV via the Sky box and a record deck (more about that later), but I do not play CDs very often and what I really wanted to do was play music off my laptop through the HiFi amplifier.  Of course, I could buy a new computer dedicated to this job (an a small format system such at the Apple mini would be ideal, but that seemed a waste of money when I already have a laptop with the music on it!  I did originally connect the laptop directly to the amplifier through a docking station, which was OK, but meant when music was playing I couldn’t work on the laptop – too inconvenient for me – so I needed a way to connect to the amplifier remotely.  A quick search of eBay and Amazon led me to a Bluetooth solution available from Logitech.

This small device has both phone and mini-jack connectors and a simple Bluetooth connection system.  It comes supplied with a small power supply and was very easy to set up.  Connecting to the laptop was simply a matter of setting the laptop off to search for a new Bluetooth device, pressing the button on the Logitech Audio link and waiting for them to pair.  Once paired I was able to connect the device to the spare Aux input of my amplifier and listen to music from the laptop on the HiFi speakers while working on the laptop (such as now while I write this Blog).  Pairing each time I bring the laptop to the lounge is easy; although, sometimes needs two goes!  In addition, I have paired it with my phone and I can listen to music from that!  It should also work with iPad and iPhone etc.  One advantage is that I no longer needed the choke filter I had been forced to use when connecting though the docking station and the sound quality is very good while I am in the same room – it falls off as I leave the lounge with the source.  The Bluetooth receiver sits nicely on top of the HiFi amplifier and is very unobtrusive.

So, all-in-all a very good buy, which solved my simple audio problem!

Update – January 2016:

The passage of time always leads to greater demands on equipment and I have recently realised that I would like to routinely play music from more than one source (phone, PC or tablet) through my HiFi system.  This has led me to an “upgrade” of the Logitech Bluetooth Audio Receiver Adapter to the latest version, which pairs with two devices and remembers them.  This makes life a lot easier as I can now play music from my phone or my PC depending which I have with me.  The new version of the adapter is much smaller than the original and could be easily hidden away if you don’t want it on show, but you do need access to the tip button for pairing with new devices.  The charger was also much smaller, but I actually just plugged it onto the lead from the old charger (mercifully the same type of plug is used) and also just plugged in the same audio jack to the HiFi.  All is working well and the sound level is slightly better from this adapter (or at least it appears to be so to me), however, I did find I had to reboot the tablet to get it to connect to the Bluetooth, but after that no problems.

So far so good, I will come back with more information shortly.

Logistics, but no logic

Having recently moved house we are inevitably purchasing a lot of new items, many of which are bought online.  This means that we have had a number of deliveries arriving over a period of time – logistics.  Of course we are on a new estate, which means the companies have to find us from the post code – logistics.

The companies that now deliver are large in number and range from well-known, established companies, to white, unmarked vans.  But what I have discovered is happening has amazed me and driven me to “blog” about it.

The first problem has been mis-delivery, which is delivery to the wrong address – the estate we now live on has two streets (with very different names), but we frequently get deliveries for the other address and I am sure some of our deliveries have gone to that address.  An example of how this occurs was that a delivery van pulled up outside our house (I was expecting some deliveries) and he rang the doorbell.  He asked me if I was expecting a delivery – no company name on the van, no company name mentioned, so I said yes.  He then proceeded to input something into his mobile computer before pulling the parcel out of the van – it was a Kenwood speaker system, so I said “no, not mine”.  He looked baffled, so I asked what address he had and he told me the wrong address, so I sent him off in the right direction.  The problem I have with this is he did not ask a logical question about the delivery, such as my address and whether I expected a specific item, or a delivery from a specific company.  Logistics without logic!

However, it doesn’t stop there.  A number of our deliveries have “disappeared” and one in particular indicated (when we enquired about it) that they had a signature, but we had never seen this item.  I am not accusing anyone of stealing the item, but an interesting example of what may happen occurred the next day following re-delivery – the item arrived early and I had just got out of bed, so I called down to say I would be there in a minute.  The reply was, “I’ll leave it on the door-step”, but I said “don’t you need a signature?”  To which he replied, “no I will just forge one”!  So items disappear because anyone can sign for them, no system exists to confirm the signature and there is no mechanism to ensure the correct signature is obtained – logistics without logic!

Then there was the order for two TV sets and when delivered only one arrived – a very innocent look from the driver who said, “no only one one my list”.  We reported the missing item and a replacement was sent, but where did the missing one go?  I have my own theory, but I cannot possibly comment here!

Maybe I am just a grumpy old man, but there seems to be a problem here that needs to be resolved.  Oh!  I haven’t mentioned the damaged goods either!  I wonder how much this is all costing the companies selling the goods!

The Sebo Automatic X1.1 – a new vacuum cleaner

For the past few years we have had a Panasonic vacuum cleaner (bagged upright, white, 1700w), which was reasonable, light, but a little top-heavy.  Earlier this year the plastic hook, onto which the hose attached, broke off and was irrepairable.  Last weekend, whilst vacuum cleaning, there was a large click from the Panasonic, a lot of noise and a burning smell: the device for locking the machine into an upright position had broken (and disappeared) renedering the vacuum cleaner unusable!

We did a lot of research over the weekend for a replacement and eventually, went for the Sebo automatic X1.1, based on reviews indicating good reliability and the ease of replacing the parts (there are several videos on Youtube showing how to do this).  The next question was then a quick delivery, as we needed the cleaner to do the housework – the Panasonic no longer looked usable!  Surprisingly, well at least to me, the Co-op offered next day delivery and the cheapest price, at just under £200 (free delivery).  We ordered it very early Wednesday morning (near 1am).  The machine arrived promptly, as they said it would, on Thursday around noon and I had it assembled and ready to use within 15 mins!  Very impressive!

When I opened the box containing this machine, it was immediately  clear how easy this would be to repair, should the need arise, as all of the parts were separate, but easy to assemble, with the only tricky action being locating the hose into the tube that is the main attachment feature.  Fitting the bag is easy and I like the “lid for the bag” feature, which means the dust won’t leak out when disposing of it.  A spare bag was provided and one already fitted, but I checked how to fit the bag just to make sure I knew how to do it.

So, what about it in use?  Well, the most noticeable thing, which was detailed in most of the reviews, is that it is quite heavy, but the weight distribution is interesting, with the Sebo being very bottom heavy.  This makes it easy to vacuum a floor, but less easy to manipulate on a staircase.  The Sebo, actually, seems to pull itself forward, which makes cleaning on a carpet very easy.  It also automatically adjusts the beater bar and height to match the carpet pile, which is strange at first as a light flashes to indicate it moving up or down and then the height changes noticeably.  There is a lot less heat output from the Sebo in comparison to the Panasonic, and the filters limit dust.  The noise level is very low and seems quiet in comparison – the Sebo noise does change in pitch when in use, but this is not a problem in my view.  The attachment hose sits to the right of the handle and can be easily lifted out and used while the machine is still set for vacuuming the floor, this is probably the best feature of the machine, as it is easy to clean around objects and into corners, especially on the stairs.  Whereas, the Panasonic required the beater bar to be switched off and using the attachments was a separate exercise.  The fact that the Sebo is bottom heavy also means using the attachment is not likely to lead to the cleaner falling over (a common problem with the Panasonic).  When using the attachments, perhaps the only major drawback is the lack of supplied tools, there is a narrow tube for cleaning down the sides of chairs and a upholstery cleaner, but that is all and I miss a brush.  However, various tools can be purchased if required and a number of accessories are available, another attractive feature.

Over all opinion is that it is a good vacuum cleaner, which is rather heavy, but that is not a major problem.

Selling on eBay – an old man’s story

I have debated for some time the idea of selling some of my excess electronic gadgets on eBay, but I have always run a little shy of doing this for a variety of reasons!  However, this week I finally got around to making my first sale and I thought I should blog the advice received:

1. Check for similar items, note comments in the descriptions, the prices asked and any items sold with it that appear attractive to a buyer.
2. Write your description in advance (many electronic items come with a product description) and make sure you explain how good the item was.
3. Be aware of costs associated with non-basic activities (e.g. not allowing 0.99p bids), adding photographs, or using a reserve price – read the help items carefully so that you make the right choices.
4. Set all your selling options that ensure safe selling and try to operate through PayPal for added security.  in particular, set appropriate “Buyer requirements” under seller preferences.
5. Watch out for free weekends (seem to appear every two weeks or there abouts) as this allows you to use more options to improve selling chances.
6. When setting up the item for sale at the top of each section you have to complete there is an add/edit options button use this to add required items (such as adding a reserve price).
7. Ensure your postage and packing cost really cover actual costs.  Make sure you have adequate packaging (for this particular item I already had a suitable box already).
8. Try to schedule the sale to end on a Sunday, which gives a better chance for a quick despatch.
9. You may get questions about the item for sale, these may come through to your email (depending on your settings), but reply on the eBay site as you can display both question and answer, which saves the same question being asked many times.
10. Transfer received funds out of PayPal quickly *.

So, what about my experience.  Well I followed all the advice and everything seemed to go smoothly, I photographed all of the gear I was sending (you can see the photograph above) and uploaded the one picture (free).  I wrote a brief description that explained why I was selling and that I had been happy with the kit.  I chose all the basic options, so the costs were zero, only selling commission to pay.  There were a few early bids, but as expected most of the bidding occurred in the last few minutes and the price shot-up from a few pounds to the selling price of £20+, which was more than I expected.  The final bid was from someone with a 100% record of good purchases and the money was in my PayPal account immediately.  I posted the box off the next morning (despite the rain) using recorded delivery and transferred the funds from PayPal to my current account.

Today I received positive feedback from the buyer, which was good once I found what he said – I have to say finding your way around eBay is not instinctive and the feedback was available when I clicked on my username!  it is worth exploring around eBay before selling.  As I hint above, some things are well hidden:

1. Click your username to set details of yourself, including a picture and a bio if you want such details.  You can also vary the layout and theme.
2. Under My eBay / Selling you will find details of items for sale, bids lodged and numbers of watchers.
3. When viewing a sold item, there is a drop down menu at the right that allows contact with buyer, feedback and a few other useful items.
4. You can print and pay for a postage label, but I thought it seemed expensive, so i do it at the Post Office Site.
5. Some of these items are also on the buttons under the item sold – Add a tracking number being one important one.

So, a good first experience.  I am about to sell my next item, I hope this advice is useful to others.

It is now two months since I wrote this blog and I have sold quite a few things on eBay.  I thought it might be useful to add some comments.  There are a few things, not detailed above, that need to be considered before selling:

1. A supply of boxes and packing material is needed, these are expensive to buy, so take this into account, but also remember you will need storage space for the boxes and the filled boxes!
2. Remember it takes quite a time to photograph each item, to upload the photos and describe the item fully – allow yourself enough time to do this.
3. Sometimes you will have to do something unusual on eBay (I had to cancel a bid today for example), if you find the page that allows you to do this add the URL to your shortcuts on your My eBay page.  Then you can easily go back to it.
4. Remember that preparation to sell an item takes time, you need to pack each item and then weigh it to ensure you get the correct postage cost.  Then remember to cover not only the actual postage cost, but also packaging and your time.
5. Storage is a big issue as many things take more space when packed and also may not sell for some time.

*  Since I wrote this recommendation about transferring the funds out of PayPal quickly, the company has changed their policy!  I got an email on April 20th explaining that PayPal would hold received funds in a “Pending” account for up to 21 days.  They kindly explained this was to make my account more secure by ensuring I can pay refunds or claims (I have a no return policy though).  However, they go on to explain, I should send off the item immediately – in other words pay postage costs up front – so that goods will be received quickly, which MAY release the funds earlier!  An early release of the funds will occur, they say, 3 days after the buyer receives the goods and if they give positive feedback!  However, I have a different viewpoint of this – PayPal are withholding my money (and no doubt gaining interest) after also charging me for them receiving the money in the first place!  In fact I received an email three days after sending off the last item, so at least that works, but, as anyone using eBay knows, a refund could be requested well after these three days.  The idea that this is a security benefit for the seller is a nonsense!  I will now remove the funds from PayPal ASAP.
Anyone got a view on this – please feel free to comment!