The Nook and more on the UKBA Saga!

The modifications to the operating system and software on the Nook e-reader are almost complete.  It does now work as a tablet which enables me to send and receive emails plus browse the internet.  Some of the other programs have yet to be downloaded and installed.  My overall impression….. The Nook can be enhanced to become both a tablet and an e-reader however the screen isn’t really good enough to display web pages.  I could (almost) call the graphics ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’.

Between the showers I made a quick trip to the local Maplin to buy another DC plug for the laptop.  The previous plug was removed from the 240v power supply as it was needed on the 12v power supply that I made.  Maplin had one in stock and I was able to solder it onto the end of the cable this afternoon.

Around 8:45am there was the distant sound of a very distinctive boat engine.  Jan opened the side hatch in time to see Hadar go past.  Keith was steering with Jo standing on the gunwale.  There was only time for a very brief ‘Hello’ and ‘Goodbye’ before they moved out of sight.  We’ve agreed we need to keep a camera closer at hand.

The big disappointment was our attempt to contact the UK Border Agency regarding the ‘Life in the UK’ test.  The actual conduct of the test has been contracted out and our problem is the post code we are using is down south but I need want to change the test centre to our current location.  The website doesn’t allow this.  Today I phoned the 0845 (pay) number and tried every menu option.  Two things were immediately apparent.  When I phoned the number a few weeks ago the first option on the menu was to report a suspected illegal immigrants.  That option has been deleted!  The other option which has been deleted is the ability to speak with a human.  All the remaining options go to a pre-recorded voice which quotes a website address (too fast for me to write down) and then ‘hangs up’.  We’re paying for these calls and by the end of my time my frustration meter was off the scale.  We now have two options.  1.  Become yet another illegal overstayer.  2.  Arrange to sit the test back down south and pay the additional travel and accommodation costs.  We’ll have to go down the latter path.  The problem for UK citizens travelling overseas is countries adopt reciprocal processes and it won’t be long before British citizens find themselves being treated in a similar reciprocal manner by other countries.

The remainder of the afternoon has been spent transferring our library of e-books from the old BeBook to the new Nook.  It’s a relatively simple process but I’m complicating it by correcting all the file metadata.