Administration

It has been a day for getting organised.  Jan did some spring cleaning (I know……. very early for spring) and I went for a walk to do a few small tasks which included carrying 12 one litre containers of long life milk back to Waiouru.

Tomorrow I have to be at Heathrow by noon and that is proving to be slightly problematic.  I hadn’t fully appreciated how the holiday rail maintenance stoppages would impact on the journey from Rugby.  The earliest train is at 6.59am and involves four changes; including a section by bus; to reach Euston St Station.  I then have to walk to Kings Cross Station and catch the Tube to Heathrow.  Timing is tight.  After looking at the iconic map of the London Underground I’m wondering whether it would be possible to modify the journey from Watford Junction onwards by getting off the train two stops after Watford Junction and catching the Tube to Paddington Station on the Metropolitan Line.  I could then take the Airport Express to Heathrow.  This saves about 40 minutes.  Unfortunately I don’t know if the above rail train from Watford Junction to Euston Station stops at stations en-route.  I may just have to “wing it” tomorrow.

Today I finally sorted the last of the Android upgrade on the old Samsung Galaxy S i9000.  There were two outstanding tasks.  The first was to make an image backup of the phone software and the second was to get the pc to recognise the phone as a usb device in order for me to transfer files to the phone from the pc using a usb cable.

Backing up the phone proved to be reasonably simple.  However fixing the usb connection took some time.  Eventually I found some instructions on a website involving changing the setting in the phone and then upgrading the usb drivers on the pc.  The phone is now performing as well as the latest Samsung version.  Well so it should!  It is using the latest version of Android (4.4.4) and all the “bloatware” has been eliminated.  Interestingly, the pc recognises it as a Nexus phone rather than Samsung.

Yesterday evening we received a message from my sister in Perth, Western Australia advising my mother had being released from hospital and was spending a few nights with her.  I telephoned my sister’s home phone via Skype this morning to have a brief conversation with mum only to get my sister.  We chatted for about 10 minutes when she said to me

“Well I have to go now.  I’m at the head of the queue and I need to buy the tickets!”   

“What…”  says me “Where are you?”

“We’re at the cinema and I’m buying the tickets”

<expletive deleted>”I though I’d called your home number……. This call will be costing a fortune…..Goodbye! <click>

This afternoon we received a message advising her home phone number has call forwarding to her mobile and assured me we would only pay for the landline portion of the call.  Hope she is right!