A much simpler solution to phone issues

I might not have been very healthy on the last days of the year, but one thing I managed to sort. When my old phone initially did not want to charge, I bought a new charging cable. That sorted me out for a month or two. When the problem came back, I just bought an entirely new phone. We are so dependent on these things, and if you can't charge them, they are useless! But when I was having a cup of tea with Miles he said you can just buy wireless chargers. And they are very cheap. I wish I would have realised that when I was in the Netherlands! That would have saved me quite a lot of money. But hey ho.

On the day of New Year's Eve I bought one. And it worked! My phone is modern enough to be compatible with that. So now I can be downright contemptuous of any charging port issues. It is fab!

Charging wirelessly 

I am now having two pretty much identical phones, so how is that panning out? Well! It's actually quite handy. Only one of them has a SIM, but that's OK; most communications don't go over the SIM card anyway. So sometimes I'm multi-screening with two phones. Handy for instance when I want to blog on one phone, and look up the blog posts I want to refer to on the other one. Or if one of them needs charging, I just use the other one. So it wasn't money wasted! But it does show me that sometimes my ignorance is an expensive thing. Not that I didn't know that; imagine how much money I might have spent unnecessarily on the house. Because I know nothing! But life goes on, and this is the second time Miles guides me to a very simple solution to a problem you can also tackle the difficult way. The first one was the heated pad for the cat. Which she absolutely loves! And which is a very efficient way of keeping her warm through the winter. Hooray for simple solutions!

Somewhat miserable betwixtmas

I came home on a Saturday evening. And all was well! I had managed Christmas without falling ill, I had got home without problems, and it was still so early in the Christmas holidays I could afford to spend some time with Nick. And did all go on like that? Well, no!

On the Sunday, I first sorted out my alarm, and I did one of my interval runs, that the physiotherapist had recommended. And I made sure to have quality time with the cat. I also had to hit the kitchen; Miles was coming over. It was good to see him! It had been a while. So a good day. 

Pic taken during my run

The next morning I woke up with a stinking headache (no we didn’t drink any alcohol). I was also feeling lethargic, and with an overabundance of slimy substances in my system. Dammit! I thought I had dodged that bullet! But clearly not. So the second last day of the year I did very little. Would I be healthy enough to go and see Nick on New Year's Eve? That didn't even become the question! Nick encountered some challenges of his own that made it a bad idea for me to come over. So on the day of New Year's Eve I first did some chores I suddenly had time for; I had to buy some car parts, and when I was in town anyway I also bought an electronic gadget. And some firewood baskets. And otherwise I just made myself comfortable. I lit a fire, did some blogging, read a book, and had more quality time with the cat. I made sure to eat nice food, and at 8 pm I was pretty much ripe for bed. Not quite how I had imagined things! But it was not a bad day at all. And I clearly wasn't entirely well again, what with barely lasting beyond 8 pm.

The cat looking daft and cross-eyed on NYE

So that was how my year ended! I will do a separate blog post with an evaluation of the year that thus ended in comfort but not spectacle. Stay tuned!

Welcome home by the heat alarm

Travelling home from the Netherlands by train is a long slog! I was glad I got home. I could already hear the cat inside when I approached the door. And then I got in and things were a bit less welcoming. 

My house smelled a bit strange. And I heard a strange beep. What was going on? Had I left something on?

I snuggled and fed the cat. And did a little round to see if everything was ok. All seemed fine! Except that the heat alarm in the kitchen seemed to run low on battery. Hence the beeping. Some of these alarms might be quite demure in their communications of diminishing battery charge, but not this one. The sound was decidedly unpleasant! But I really didn't want to deal with that right now. I had the strong suspicion I didn't have the required battery, and I had only just got home. I really didn't want to leave again. So I just checked how loud the sound was if I just closed the kitchen door. And it was bearable!

I made sure in the cat's food and water were outside the kitchen as well. And the smell? I never found out what that was about. Maybe that was placebo effect. Maybe your house always smells a bit strange if you have been away, and maybe you place too much emphasis on that when you also hear disconcerting sounds. But I stopped worrying about it. And I went to bed fairly early. And I did manage to sleep through the sound, that I could still hear. I couldn't really close more doors, as that would impede the cat.

As the sound was so unpleasant, it was pretty much the first task in the morning to sort that out. I shut down the electricity to the alarm, took it down, removed the battery, and went to the local shop to buy a new one. I decided to buy two. If this alarm is running out, it is quite possible the other alarms are not far behind. If the next one goes, I can sort that out without having to go to the shop.

I put the new battery in, and put everything back in place. Such a small job really, but just a bit too much after a 12 hour train journey. I hope that's me sorted for years now!

Back on the Eurostar (premier seats)

This was the first time I got me fancy seats! So how was it? 

Amsterdam Central Station in Christmas outfit 

It started like any other Eurostar journey from Amsterdam. I don’t think there’s a lounge there; just a long platform. So I got there well on time, and just waited in the cold. But once it appeared, the train was nice. I again had a single seat, so had both a window seat and unimpeded access to the luggage rack above me. Nice! And they brought breakfast. And I quite like train breakfasts. This was not as nice as in the train to Lapland; the entire experience, that is; this is not a judgment on the cuisine. But it was nice anyway.

Breakfast

We got to Brussels without issue. And there all was as usual again! You find yourself the Eurostar terminal, and get through ticket control, security, and passport control like everybody else. I saw no priority lane or anything like that. And after passport control you get herded into some smelly underground shop until they allow you onto the platform. Fancy ticket or not; that’s your fate! But again; once I was in. It was nice. 

I got fed again! Quite well, even. And there was wine. All very fancy. And the weather was even good. There was fog both in the Netherlands and in the UK, but not in Belgium and France. 

Space, wine and blue skies

I was in London on time. And that was the end of the luxury. Euston is notoriously un-luxurious. And the train from there was in good nick but very full. Difficult to manoeuvre. It got me to Crewe, where I changed again. The next train, to Chester, was ok again. And the last one too. That line often used rather delapidated carriages, but this time it was ok! And it was also not full of boisterous drunk people. That sometimes happens. 

Glamorous train gets you to glamorous destination: St Pancras

Altogether I got to Bangor on time. Success! And would I book fancy tickets again? Not on purpose, I think. Especially not on the way back; the fun of the luxury is a bit dampened by the fact that it will be followed by the long trip through the UK, which is generally the bleaker part of the journey. But if I’m ever late booking again and the economy tickets have run out, I’ll make sure to enjoy the pampering again! 

New Dutch phone

 I had had issues with my phone before, I only had it for about a year but it started to struggle to charge a while ago. I sorted that with a new cable. But just before I would travel abroad it gave me problems again. I cleaned out the charging port as well as I could, and set off. It still struggled!

I had a few issues with a malfunctioning phone. The first was: I had my train ticket on my phone. I had managed to get my hands on paper Eurostar tickets, but not the ticket from London to Bangor. 

The second issue was: I was going to see Koen, but we hadn’t agreed a time yet. But I hoped I could perhaps sort that from my mother’s iPad. 

The third issue was: the journey back. It’s a long ride! And it really helps if you can do a variety of things in the train. Read the newspaper, read a book, update one’s blog, send messages to one’s loved ones, do a puzzle… if the only things I can do are reading and doing the puzzles in the newspaper that gets really dull after a while. 

The first thing was the most urgent. But I had enough charge to send the PDF of my train ticket to my brother in law, who then printed it out. Stress over! But the other issues still stood, so I decided I might want to get me a new phone. And I had spotted a shop right behind Hilversum’s railway station. 

On Boxing Day I walked to the station. I had no particular train in mind; between Hilversum and Amersfoort they go so often, you can just get to the station at any time, and it will be fine, and I popped into the shop. And got me a similar phone to the old one. I a few minutes I was outside again! 

At my mum’s I tried to get my latest iCloud backup onto it. That was a bit frustrating but it worked in the end. It also involved me running through her house, looking for the router. My mum couldn’t quite remember where it was! Then it insisted on doing a long software update. That was done just before bedtime. And then it needed to install all apps. That took until the morning of my departure. All done! 

I didn’t really intend to get my next phone in the Netherlands, but it’s done now. I hope I’m now sorted for at least another year! And I hope this one has a longer battery life. But it’s quite nice this phone will be a bit of a memento of a family visit! And some weary people whose first customer I was, that drizzly Boxing Day, two hours after they opened the shop…

The old phone; my WhatsApp has already moved over