Tech or no tech?
The old ways are the best – sometimes
The Internet may be the future for most things, but there are times when it’s a bit like asking HAL to open the pod bay doors…
Have tried to do two sets of bookings over the last few days, one for rail tickets and the other for airport fast track.
In the case of the rail tickets, it was easier to get into the car and drive down to the station where the train in question is going from as a means of getting the sensible answer and the tickets – the out trains to our destination are being replaced by buses, but the website couldn’t tell me whether this was a full replacement or a partial replacement.
The lady in the ticket office resolved the matter in a couple of minutes, loaded the times into her computer, taking payment and printing the tickets.
After five attempts at getting fast track, I checked to see whether any payments had been taken out of the bank and then rang the helpline.
After explaining the situation, the fast track was booked, the payment taken and the confirmation email sent. By the time I put the phone down, the email had arrived and it’s now been printed off and stashed in the appropriate file in readiness for the start of the trip.
Technology, don’t you just love it?
Weather or not…
One fine day… just not today!
We were expecting to wake up to find snow covering the roads, pavements and car here at Wisepacking Towers given yesterday’s weather forecasts.
It may arrive later of course, but we have things to do and places to go, so it may or may not impinge on our plans.
Whilst the forecast wasn’t right for this morning, yesterday’s was spot on – high winds for most of the day with some disruption.
For most of our surrounding area this meant that there was a spread of rubbish and a batch of disposed disposable nappies over the road and pavement as bins had been put out for collection by the bin trucks last week rather than today when the collection is supposed to take place…
No nappies here though – just a neighbour’s trampoline invading parts of our back garden after being lifted up and deposited by the fence around 3am.
Parts of the trampoline structure ended up in our garden whilst an ornamental chimney pot suffered the same fate as a few garden gnomes.
The trampoline has been moved and weighted down, but there’s a bit of repair work that needs to be done to the fence.
And the garden gnomes? We can rebuild them without consulting the Gnome Office or a copy of Rolling Gnome magazine.
One tube of super glue should do the trick as there’s no need for any to them to become the Six Million Dollar Gnome as none are modelled on Lee Majors (yes, that’s a gratuitous 1970’s TV series reference just there that some may have to Google to find out more about…).
So what can you do when the weather’s taking a walk on the wild side?
Get the guidebooks out and start planning the next batch of trips or sit and watch some travel based TV.
We made a point of watching Rick Stein’s programme about a weekend in Lisbon last night whilst demolishing one of Caroline’s home made fish pies.
Plenty of memories of time spent in Lisbon, Sintra and beyond and yes, there were a few places that we’d been too and eaten in too.
Whilst we’d both pass on seafood dishes or any potentially cheeky pork stews, we have eaten well on our visits to Lisbon, Sintra, Porto (see below) and elsewhere in Portugal.
Some have featured in guidebooks, others haven’t and yes, I have spotted one or two Hollywood names eating out a table or two away from us.
None of that matters though so long as the food, wine and beer are good.
We don’t take photos of our plate or frequent places lauded by foodies or loaded down with stars. We don’t need to be in flash surroundings either, something that we do have in common with Rick Stein after watching that Lisbon programme last night…
Regaleira, Porto – no pretensions, but good food and drink!
What’s in the pockets?
Langdale, Lake District, U.K.
News from the BBC News website regarding a multi-pocketed jacket to stash tech in whilst travelling or going about your daily business…
May pass on buying one though as I usually find a jacket with four pockets suffices as my wallet, keys & change are usually in zipped trouser pockets.
The other factor I would take into account is the amount of tech I take with me – a dumbass phone, a four year old basic Kindle and a basic Nikon point and shoot digital compact camera.
That’s all I need as I’ve found electronic guidebooks aren’t as user friendly as their paper counterparts (in full, photocopied or surgically reduced formats).
I have Kindle versions (and other format electonic guidebooks on my iPad Mini and my desktop), but I still prefer paper guidebooks.
What’s on the Kindle then? Travelogues, biogs, ‘how to’ books and the occasional novel too. Nothing too heavy though – I read to relax rather than fill the brain with stuff it doesn’t need!
The above pic is a reminder of where I used to read three books a week either in the pub or the tent after days out on the hills.
That link to the Beeb?
All is quiet…
Sunshine – but not today!
Well, it was a quiet night last night – no noise from the neighbours and only mild use of fireworks.
Looking out of the window at the moment and yes, it’s still raining so it’s a day in rather than heading out anywhere (one of our local pubs doesn’t do grub on New Year’s Day and the other one serves beef that can be pink and bloody whilst our favourite veggie place is rather closed today…).
So there’s books to read and programmes to watch plus time to look at the weather prospects for Monday and Tuesday so we can get out and about.
No Internet or bricks and mortar shopping though – the Rohan sale order was placed and has arrived whilst the other items I wanted were bought in the visit to the big city last Wednesday.
In the meantime, this restaurant review made me smile earlier…
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jan/01/the-holy-birds-london-restaurant-review
Yes, Jay Rayner strikes again and doesn’t chicken out either!
George Michael
I caught the breaking news last night regarding George Michael.
I wasn’t a great fan and whilst I recognised his voice and songs (both solo and with Wham!), I don’t actually have any of his music on the CD racks or on my iTunes setup.
The guy was talented though, reaped a host of rewards via his talents, but also came unstuck with a series of high profile problems or incidents along the way which weren’t covered up or made to disappear as is sometimes the case with some major stars. Allegedly.
The tributes are all out there on TV, online and presumably in the papers too ( I haven’t been into any shops today and there weren’t any lying around in the pub that Caroline were in at Malham this lunchtime.
I suspect that more will be coming our way in the coming days, weeks and months and that his music may be heading back into the charts here in the UK when the latest single and album charts are announced on Friday…
Rick Parfitt
I’ve mentioned a couple of times on wisepacking that Caroline and I had a great night out in Blackpool earlier in the year when we went to the first night of Status Quo’s Last Of The Electrics tour.
It’s sheer coincidence that we watched the latest Quo compilation DVD on Thursday night as there was nowt on TV and it was only lunchtime today that I was looking at the band’s website.
Little did we know what was going to be announced a couple of hours ago…
I’ve seen Status Quo play at least five times now – Caroline only saw them for the first time in Blackpool – and I interviewed Rick Parfitt twice during my days as a music journalist.
Rick was one of the best interviewees that I’ve talked to. No airs and graces, friendly and a good laugh too.
There’s quite a bit online already, but The Guardian has this as part of its’ range of tribute features. The reader comments are worth reading too.
In a world of bland music and blander ‘stars’, Rick Parfitt will be missed..
Holiday fever?
UK or not UK? That is the question…
Plans and bookings have been made for 2017 and there are ideas in the melting pot for others in the UK and Europe.
Airlines, holiday companies and hotel chains are already sending me emails regarding their offers for next year whilst Expedia have just awarded me + Silver status on their rankings, something that goes alongside the Genius status awarded by Booking.com earlier this year.
[I will hasten to add at this point that I personally don’t regard myself as a genius in any way, shape or form – I know what my school results were and that my degree from University Of Sunderland is a Desmond (a 2:2).]
But I digress. I suspect that there will be a few more emails over the coming months giving me more details of what their promotions are.
Yes, I’ve unsubscribed from one accommodation provider’s email list as I was getting so many emails alerting me to deals going on in places I’ve already been to over the last twelve months and to deals in places that I’ve already booked for in early 2017.
I already know what Rohan’s sale items are though as a catalogue arrived via snail mail earlier in the week and this has been backed up by an email a few minutes ago.
Items of interest have been identified and that’s to my advantage as I decided not to take up the offer on a 20% off full price stock voucher for use in the Leeds store a couple of Saturdays ago.
Have the prices gone down? Yes, and by more than 20% – one will have a 30% reduction whist the other has a 50% reduction.
They’re both fleeces, but they will come in useful as a couple of existing fleeces have seen better days.
A couple of t-shirts have also caught my eye too as selected colours in the Element T and Merino Union 200 T ranges are also being given the 30% off treatment come Tuesday 27th…
The above will come in useful as Caroline and I head off to either European destinations or those here in the UK.
We haven’t been up to Scotland for a while now and whilst Caroline has been to both Northern Ireland and Isle of Man, I haven’t – yet!
I’ve not been up to the Borders for a while and it’s a few years since we spent time in the Lake District. Our North Norfolk hideaway has changed management recently, so a few days may be spent in one of the hostel’s en-suite rooms or on one of their campsite pitches.
A return visit to Suffolk could be on the cards, as could London or Brighton and Hastings. My last visit to Brighton was way back in the 1960s and whilst Caroline and King Harold have seen Hastings, I haven’t…
Anything else? Have a good holiday season, wherever you are in the world!
And that pic?* Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales
A useful link…
Don’t usually do links to charity stories on wisepacking, but this story has just caught my eye so I am making an exception!!!
Silent running…
Ola… or should that be Hola?
I’ve been sorting a few things out over the last couple of weeks or so since my last post, have visited one or two places that I’ve never been before and I’ve been trying to do some shopping.
Food is always the easiest one to sort out, even at this time of the year, especially when supermarkets are kicking out discount vouchers left, right and centre.
Not that I’m complaining, but the thirty odd pounds worth of coupons from Tesco and Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s have ensured that we’ve stocked up on coffee, food and drink before the seasonal madhouse usually found in UK supermarkets at this time of year.
Our baskets and trollies have been empty compared to some we’ve seen, even though supermarkets and other shops are typically closed for one day over the next fortnight or so.
Our last minute shopping run is probably going to be confined to milk, bread and any bits and pieces we’ve forgotten about rather than a humungous pile of stuff that would probably pile on the pounds (or kilos depending on your location) and increase the waistline.
The supermarket loyalty cards aren’t the only ones kicking out vouchers or offers. The M&S one ensured that I got two plain black cotton t-shirts priced at £6.00 each for a till total of just £4.60 thanks to a 20% off t-shirts promo offer and a simultaneous £5.00 Just For You code being added onto my card when I checked it on the in-store terminal.
Shopping for stuff that’s been around for a while has also paid dividends – £5 for the first series of the Kevin Spacey take on House Of Cards was one offer that was taken up, as was that for a long sleeved Rohan Stratum polo shirt that’s just been ordered (£47 reduced to 37.50 with the added benefits of free delivery) and a rare decision to buy some Merrell shoes from John Lewis as a) there was a 20% off promo on the go b) free delivery and c) the added benefit of having a £5 gift card that was sent to me by the John Lewis loyalty card people earlier in the week…
Playing ones loyalty cards right hasn’t been the only way that we’ve saved money recently.
My folding bike needed some new tyres, and Caroline needed a new spare for her bike too. As neither were needed immediately, I tried to get them three weeks ago at a bike shop in a nearby city. And failed, largely because the assistant got a bit arsey with me…
The same company got the sale for that Panaracer Gravel Kingfor Caroline’s bike, two Schwalbe Marathons plus three Schwalbe inner for my folder , but over the Internet rather than in their local branch.
Savings? £2 on the Panaracer and £6 each on the Schwalbe Marathons compared to prices in other retailers…
Fortunately it’s been a different story in other bike shops recently where the staff were only too happy to help out, even though we were only in search of socks, energy bars and new skid lids.
Caroline at Tan Hill Inn, North Yorkshire, May 2016.
Step forward then Sowerby Brothers in Mirfield and the Leeds branches of Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative and Evans Cycles.
Caroline had had a spot of work done on her bike at Sowerby Brothers a few weeks ago whilst out on a club ride, so she headed there to sort out a bike service last Thursday whilst I stocked up on Clif Bars.
Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative have been a pleasure to do business with for years now, as have Evans Cycles.
A set of lights plus a fluorescent Specialized helmet was bought by myself a few weeks ago (Caroline renewed her lid there too) and when Caroline needed some warm merino wool based cycling socks a fortnight ago, these came courtesy of Evans Cycles, as did an extra front light for the folder.
So, will the money we’ve saved be used to buy coffee, beer and tapas in Andalucia next year?
You might think that, but I couldn’t possible comment…
Twelve years…
There is a very good reason for remembering the 29th of November.
Caroline left the NHS behind and took up a new nursing role with a leading disability charity here in the UK whilst I went to work as usual and ended up in an NHS hospital.
Although I’d only had a medical three days beforehand as I’d just registered with a GP after moving to Skipton, I’d had a stroke.
Three UK registered cars drove past me as I lay on the ground, but the one that stopped to help out bore Polish plates.
The ambulance guys were great, as were the staff in Airedale General Hospital’s A and E department, the intensive care unit and the stroke unit.
I didn’t see myself in the mirror for a day or two, but the results of hitting a wall and the pavement with my face on the way down to the ground were all too obvious…
I was lucky though. I suspect I was the only non-smoker on the wards I was in and I know that I was the only one walking unaided between my bed and the TV room or shop.
Twelve years and more meds than I would like later, there’s still thanks going out to the paramedics and the staff at Airedale Hospital.
And to Caroline of course!
wisepacking 
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