Frustration.

The north-westerly winds have brought more clouds and colder temperatures.

Yesterday I thought I'd got away without any aches and pains after disco aerobics but my poor knee wasn't happy last night. What is it they say, No pain, no gain? I think that only works to a certain level so I shall carry on having fun and reliving my youth. Anyone remember The Lyceum or even the Hammersmith Palais (only went there once as we preferred the clubs in the West End)?

During the morning a strip of blue appeared amongst the clouds and gave a brighter feel to the day for a while. I carried on emptying kitchen cupboards and have worked my way through all the lower cupboards.

And now for my latest rant, skip this section if you want. A couple of days ago I finally decided that I should join the majority of the population and accept Peter's offer of a new smart phone. The phone arrived today and I wish I hadn't bothered. The only light in the tunnel as far as I'm concerned is that I can return the phone within 14 days and that may well be happening. I mean do I really need an upgrade and will it be better than the hand-me down phone which often has no signal here (but hopefully will if I'm in the car)? And what is wrong with the new phone you may ask? To start with in it's current state in the box it isn't working which to my mind makes it not fit for purpose. I know, I'm showing my age by expecting things to work as soon as you buy them. No manual to look at and the only websites offered don't give any help to set up the phone. I couldn't even log in to the account becuse Peter ordered it over the phone and doesn't have a password. You'd think he might be able to help, after all he's had smart phones for years but all I got was a phone charger plonked in front of me (the phone came without a charger) and was told that I didn't need a manual and should just 'charge it up and put the sim card in'. Really helpful when I've never set up a phone before. Oh yes, there is a manual on-line but you have to scan a QR code, presumably with the phone that you can't get working until you've seen the manual. I fail to see how this is progress when 20 or 30 years ago you would buy a piece of technology, plug it in and press a start button but now you have to go through all sorts of steps to get the technology to actually work. It's like going into M&S for a dress and coming out with a roll of fabric and a pattern to make your own. Not to mention that the sim card looks nothing like the tiny diagram in the safety boklet that came with the phone. I'm going to have to make a trip to town to get the lads in the shop to sort it, admittedly they're very helpful but there's still a high probability that the phone will be going back. In a way I feel that I shouldn't be pressured into having something that has already caused so much stress.

Sadly my woes didn't end there. Having decided that the Canon SX70 is the one for me (60x optical zoom, eye view finder and non-detachable lens, think sand and sea spray) is the one for me, Peter spoke to the nearest camera shop (75 miles away) to see if they had one in stock which I could look at first only to find that there has been no stock of those cameras in the country since July and they already had a waiting list of over 30 people. I tried Argos which seems like rather a random place to be buying expensives cameras from but they do sell the Canon SX70. Wow, I thought and ordered one but then had great trouble getting the bank verification code on my old phone when the signal bars dropped from 3 to zilch. I even went out and wandered round the garden in the howling wind. Eventually got the code only to have the sale cancelled by Argos. Presumably at that point their system had worked out they don't have any in stock either. So all in all not a good afternoon. 

Does that diagram bear any resemblance to the sim card they sent? I think not.

The shipping forecast at 6.00 was for winds force 7 to severe gale force 9 which we've been listening to all evening. It's supposed to be sunny but cold tomorrow so I might get a walk in.