Week of 10th October, 2016

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Monday, 10th October

So today I excursed to Liz and Keith's house, there to attempt to get the ZTE USB Internet dongle working on Keith's laptop, so that he can get online.

Now, I know this thing works on a Window$ 7 box - tord runs that OS, and I used him in Paddington yesterday, while waiting for Jane and Liz to finish their visit to Keith.

Trouble is, Keith's machine has been force upgraded to Win10, due to Micro$oft's arguable malware tactics in forcing the new OS on its customers. It's my first encounter with Win10, and as far as I'm concerned, it's a disaster. Nothig is where it used to be, and when you do find it, it doesn't respond the way previous experience would suggest.

No matter what I did, I could not find a way to activate the ZTE730M as a network source. It's recognised, and Properties says, "This device is working properly." But I could not get it to activate. So I decided to punt this POS, and revert to tried-and-true techniques - Hame A100 wifi 3G router, with the Huawei E156G dongle plugged in, and my Three data SIM installed. But I didn't have the kit in hand. So I took Keith's machine home with me. Liz will collect it tomorrow, on her way to visit Keith.

At home, of course, settting up the Hame/Huawei worked like the expected charm. I've left a connect record on the machine, so that it should find the Hame automatically at startup.

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Tuesday, 11th October

Liz passed by today, to collect Keith's laptop, and I gave her a lift to the station, where she made a good train connection. I made offer of a lift home from the hospital if she so wished, and in due course the text arrived. So I did taxi duty.

In the evening, I discovered that I'd done the Panasonic DVD recorder a disservice. Once you have the timer events (up to a maximum of 8) set, it will change source as required to record. You can add timer events manually, but it's easier to use the (limited compared to the $ky+HD equivalent) EPG to programme events. The machine has 140+ hours of capacity, but I have no intention of letting it get anywhere near full. Timely editing out of commercials, and copying to DVD is required - when I can get at the machine. Which is not as easy as one might think...

But at least the funny "Cannot copy" error while trying to archive from the $ky box has gone away.

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Wednesday, 12th October

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Thursday, 13th October

Today I managed to contact the roofers. Previous lack of contact were caused by family health problems, or so it is claimed. I have to ask, "Would a phone call have been too much trouble?" Anyway, new appointment for Monday.

It looks like Katy's flat purchase will go ahead. She came home with a large envelope of bumf, including two documents that need her signature, one of which requires witnessing by a non-family member, so I think she asked our neighbour. Then, of course, "Can you hand-deliver tomorrow? I want this finished asap - ideally before half-term." That's the last week of this month, which her solicitor thinks is feasible. But I can't hand-deliver, I have freelance tomorrow.

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Friday, 14th October

The freelance today. And it was quiet, just the one closed-circuit recording from oversea. That means not simultaneously going to air (it actually transmits tomorrow evening) Plus obsessive logging and checking offair signals.

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Saturday, 15th October

The new battery for Keith's phone arrived this morning, as did more Caricol for Jane. I just hope it's not a lemon - quality reports on this item range from "Utter cr*p - worse than the old one it's supposed to replace", to "Great. No problems at all". Obviously, I'm hoping for the latter. Keith doesn't need more problems than he already has, having lost one leg below the knee.

It is rumoured that Liz wants a replacement phone - same model as she currently has (she doesn't want to learn another phone) - because some of the keypad buttons are becoming iffy. If true, I can get one - different colour, but same model - from eBay.

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Sunday, 16th October

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