What are you all up to
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Margaret is the same with regard to hearing and struggles a bit with a mobile phone. We currently have set of 3 Panasonic DECT phones around the house which have extra volume and she can manage better but sometimes still difficult. I don't know if we can have a similar system if we have to have an internet (VOIP) phone? In fairness we do have a mobile phone signal but no more than two bars showing as signal strength so we can receive and make calls. I imagine by 2025 we will have no choice but to go over to a VOIP phone which doesn't particularly bother me providing we can keep our number. I suppose if we swop over the BT/EE, which seems to be an option, that could work out OK?
David
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"I hope they don't start messing around with email addresses as I have had my btinternet.com email address for over 20 years"
David - there is a way around that. I switched from BT years ago and also had a btinternet.com email address for years and was in danger of losing it. I pay for BT Premium Mail - £7.50 per month - and have been doing so for many years now and that way I keep the BT address regardless of who my internet provider is. I think it's a bit of a con - especially as EE and BT are the same company - but was a far better option than losing that address and all the hassle that goes with notifying everyone and every organisation that it's changed.
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Richard
I did consider doing the same but it has been many years since I changed from BT to Plusnet and have never been challenged (famous last words!) I just assumed that as I was with a supplier owned by BT that they allowed me to keep the address. As you suggest it would create absolute chaos if they suddenly changed their minds. So much is in flux at the moment with all the BT/EE/PN changes I suppose I will have to wait and see what happens. It looks as if I will have to change back to BT at some stage in the future if I want FTTP and VOIP. Whether that is available under BT or EE I don't know and if it is under EE will they maintain the btinternet.com emails?
David
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When we got rid of the broadband we just set up a new email account and transferred all our contacts to that then sent out an email to info them. We did that prior to the broadband going. Didn't take long and wasn't a big ordeal.
DK, my OH has to wear 2 hearing aids but doesn't have an issue with phones but he did say you can get phones for the hard of hearing which might be worth looking into.
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BT actually sent me this in an email about a month after they signed me up for an upgraded hub and voip phone line as BT. As our new contract is for two years perhaps everything will be under the EE banner if I want to change anything at that time.
Rest assured, you'll be able to move your home phone service across to new EE at the same time, including transferring your landline number and selecting the right calling plan to suit your needs
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I think its time you tried a modern bus as you would be amazed. The ones we used recently on the Harrogate to Leeds route were exceptional - the upper deck consited on two seats on the nearside and just one on the offside. All the seats were leather recaro style. Air suspension mean the buses just float along the roads.
Travelling by bus to a city has major advantages:
the driver can enjoy the elevated views, no need to find or pay for parking in a strange city, no need to even explore on a circular route as you can get on the bus anywhere that suits. Don't forget that with modern technology, in most areas you can check what time the bus will actually arrive with live updates.
Obviously we don't have to drag (or push) a dog along and Wetherspoons are available for a pleasant toilet break - can't remember the last time I used a "council" public convenience.
Buses don't go everywhere so in those situations we obviously use the car.
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All this talk of BT going over to "voip" by 2025 has left me in a quandary - maybe someone can help me out?
Our router is upstairs in the study with my main computer. We have a phone there as well as the main one in the living room and another in the main bedroom. Now I understand the idea is that we will just disconnect the main phone from the present socket - but will it work if I connect the study phone to our router upstairs?
Can't say it's weighing very heavily on my mind right now as we rarely use (or answer) the landline and we haven't had any notification from BT about this yet, but maybe someone more technically able than me can advise?
Have another trip to Bath RUH on Monday for Mrs M to have another x-ray and consultation about her broken finger. Seems to have stopped hurting and the swelling has gone down a lot but she was told it'll be 12 weeks before she has full use again. So I'm standing by to cook the Christmas Dinner in the van - can't really go wrong with bangers and mash, can you?
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Helo o Gymru! We are in our holiday cottage in Wales😁 Very nice, great views, Menai Straits and Anglesey one way, Snowdon the other. Had a good meet up with some friends on our way here this morning, then a wet and wild drive through through the mountains and Llanberis Pass. Water, water, everywhere…….. Cosy now, log fire, a birthday dinner, the castle visiting starts tomorrow 😁
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TG
We did buy a set of phones that were supposedly recommended (by the NHS Audiology Department at our local hospital) for people with hearing difficulties but unfortunately they turned out to be very poor. We found the Panasonic phones far superior. The trouble is that like many things you often don't get the opportunity to try them, although we did send the phones that didn't work for us back!
David
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Buses have improved quite a bit, I know. It’s air suspension that sets me off though. All our cars are stiff rides (Jeep, MG, Mini) when we used to go out with friends, if they used their Citroen I was boffing for England😱 I am not too bad on buses on motorways, but once the bendy roads start, that’s me done. I was hauled off to Airedale District General from the Bolton Abbey Club Site by ambulance one time, I couldn’t stand up, kept falling over. Diagnosis……extreme sea sickness, that was in our own MH.🤭🤢
Mr Wetherspoon is notoriously anti dog. So we reciprocate🤣 But it’s good that folks do what suits, we do use our local Sheffield trams and tram trains.0 -
Quick break for cuppa before clearing up after mince pie making. Decided I'll freeze uncooked this year. First for me.
Raining for a change. Not done a walk yet, Dora hasn't even popped out for a comfort break 😳. I'll go out with her for a stomp around the village shortly. Fields are just too mucky 😪
I note the website off air for ESSENTIAL, again?? Maintenance from before 10pm Friday evening and not back over my breakfast about 8am.
Better still I checked out server error thread to post,I jeep it open as a tab, as I do this thread, it's been removed 🤐 and I get road signs........ page not found
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All this talk of BT going over to "voip" by 2025 has left me in a quandary - maybe someone can help me out?
Our router is upstairs in the study with my main computer. We have a phone there as well as the main one in the living room and another in the main bedroom. Now I understand the idea is that we will just disconnect the main phone from the present socket - but will it work if I connect the study phone to our router upstairs?
Can't say it's weighing very heavily on my mind right now as we rarely use (or answer) the landline and we haven't had any notification from BT about this yet, but maybe someone more technically able than me can advise?
M you can plug the phone into the phone socket on the router if it’s conveniently located. Ours wasn’t so I requested a plug in adaptor that they supply free of charge. You simply plug this into a mains socket close to your phone and plug the phone into it. This then connects by WiFi to your router. I assume you can do both, but have not tried, as our second phone links in the normal manner to the one on the base station and all works as before. It was very easy to set up and similar to the chime for our ring doorbell.
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Thanks, Steve, I'll bear that in mind if/when we hear from BT!
Pouring with rain this morning, Ralph and I got thoroughly soaked - he refuses to walk with a coat on, so it's out with the hair dryer when we get home to get rid of the worst of the wet and THEN on with his coat in the house (how he sulks!)
Nice surprise for Mrs M this morning with an email from her friend ERNIE (not sure if they still use the old boy for drawing premium bond prizes)
, nothing for me. 
Minor success for me, though - made another batch of Goldie's Christmas Shortbread and actually remembered to put the cheese in this time! 👍
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Lost my post last night due to the "essential maintenance " was a bit late posting as we had been out to our local pub to check out all their decorations 🙂
Decorated our tree this week and put up a few outside lights during a short dry spell, it seems to have rained most of the week. ☔️☹️ Lots of wet walks too.
Booked a few days away over New Year, a first for us, we're usually at home. The fireworks scare Polly so hopefully being in the countryside she won't hear them. Just hoping we don't get any snow now.
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Dry this morning and a lot less wind than they forecast. Had a good wander and met quite a few of the villagers en route which lengthened the time spent out.
We bumped into one of our friendly near neighbours and told him we were dismantling a decent desk to make way for a new one arriving tomorrow. He took a look and wanted it for his granddaughter. Carried it outside. Didn't fancy having to carry it down the whole cut-de-sac but a very kind Postie came along, said pop it in the back of the van and lo and behold problem sorted. We get great service from our regular Posties.
Chucking down now so off to put a pot of coffee on.
MiL has hearing aids and has no trouble with hearing phone. They were expensive hearing aids though.
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We have just been with our nearly 4 year old great grandson to see Father Christmas with his mummy and daddy and a great time was had by all 🎅. It is our annual treat to him. It has rained here most of the week with Wednesday being the only really dry and bright day. It teemed with rain all night last night and all morning but a dry, bright and windy afternoon but not as windy as predicted thankfully. We put our Christmas decorations up this week including a few outside lights.
I hope Mrs Moulsey's injury is getting better. Our eldest son dislocated and broke his finger a few months ago (trying to stop a ball going out of play at our granfson's football game). It took a while before he got full movement back but all is well now.
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We have had a great first night, and full day here in North Wales. Bit damp this morning, but it stopped raining mid morning. Gale force winds though. We decided on a scenic drive via Rhyd Dhu and Beddgelert down to Criccieth, and visited the castle and Cadwaladers ice cream shop. Lucky enough to see WHL steam train on line on way, photo is of Moel Hebog, the mountain that dominates Beddgelert. We last climbed this some 25 years or so ago. Winds nearly took us off our feet at top of Criccieth Castle, so we didn’t linger for long. Drove back up coastal route to Caernarfon, then back to cottage. Fire now lit, lovely and warm, still blowing a howling gale outside.
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Better still I checked out server error thread to post,I keep it open as a tab, as I do this thread, it's been removed 🤐 and I get road signs........ page not found
Well just checked in on my tablet. Server error thread is still there............
Good to read others news.
All mince pies, 5 dozen, made frozen and safely in containers 😀
Early for us but we've been putting our decorations up. Anything to cheer up the days! Christmas cards are coming in - I love them. Good to read sender's news, not generally round robins, but a few lines of news.
Spent several days trying to locate the Christmas tree. Reshuffled the loft cupboard to do so and find the electric plate warmer. Horrified to find the Christmas tree bag empty and neatly folded 😱. More scratching of heads..... OH has been saying is it in the loft? - definitely not I reply we don't use it! Eventually today he says I remember putting it in 2 bin liners as it was. Penny drops!
We opened the loft hatch, he's not steady enough and I DON'T do ladders. So peering in from the landing with a torch 'bingo'. Now have to wait son's visit, should be tomorrow, to retrieve it, as he placed it there last year.No sign of plate warmer, so last resort, the 4 bed drawers at the head end. Means moving bedside drawers. Double 'bingo' in the first one we looked. All items now sorted for Christmas catering.
I blame moving, 36 years of things have the same storage location........
Managed a dry dog walk. Round the village streets. Lots of water running fast through the ditches (dykes as the natives call them 😉). Tried what's usually a hard off road walk but gave up halfway as I was slipping and sliding everywhere. At least dog got an off lead run. Our dog shower is a fabulous boon. She returns muddy, me too, trots round to the back of the house awaiting nice warm water shower to get the muck off. Must be heavenly on cold wet paws and fur. Good on my wellies too. I rarely wear wellies, preferring supportive walking boots, but they've certainly been very necessary this last week.
Milliehull sounds like a fabulous day. We have our grandson tomorrow while mummy and daddy go to make door wreaths. Then I'm feeding us all. 🤣🤣 can I still cope with an inquistive almost 3 year old and prepare a meal? IF it stops raining I'm aiming at a dusk walk to see lights in the village. We have a house covered with illuminations which raises money for local air ambulance and the rest of the village puts on quite a show.
Right must wrap present from NZ for grandson as their package arrived with various things for distribution including labels. She orders online for delivery here. I return the favour 😉 by sending labels and send her out shopping 🤣🤣. Now getting to the age that things will probably be noticed....... this year its a nice box 😊
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Better still I checked out server error thread to post,I keep it open as a tab, as I do this thread, it's been removed 🤐 and I get road signs........ page not found
our Internet went out, so I changed devices. I'm on my phone now and the server errors again thread still gives page not found. But my tablet has the thread. Both Samsung devices! Its beyond my Ken. But that's not hard with tech 😳.
Reading all the posts on BT etc and digital phones. We have digital phones, given them by BT when we signed up on moving in 18 months ago. Both upstairs and downstairs bases and handsets are just plugged into a socket. My complaint, they don't ring very loud, even on the highest setting. Impossible to hear through a closed door and often room to room with no closed doors. And if you move away from the base, the handset bleats that its too distant from its base. I'm talking one side of the double bed to the other! Our old phones could be taken into the garden and still be connected..... They call it progress 😡. We don't get a great mobile signal in the house and I prefer the handset rather than a mobile phone.
We noticed a couple of nights ago the typeface layout and colours had slightly changed on the TV guide. It now says EE not BT in the top left hand corner and the set top box on light has changed from pink/purple, my favourite colours, to green. We did have a letter to say it was changing but with general life we'd forgotten.
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micky, if you don't mind me asking, which mobile router did you get? We are at present on a phone link with Plusnet, but only for wifi as we have no land line phone, and as we are away for about 2/3 rds of the year it is rather a luxury. We have a "dongle" with 3 for using in the caravan but suspect we wouldn't be able to use off at home for the TV as well as our kindles.
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Missed all of yesterday's posts on here because of the dreaded Essential Maintenance
so have a lot of catching up to do. Nice to read all the updates from B2, H&T, Millie and wish Moulesy all the best with cooking the Xmas dinner, rather him than I. Hope Mrs M's finger is not too painful and that she soon has full use of it. I know from experience how painful and backward broken/dislocated fingers and thumbs can be.Good to hear that the WNs and the tdas met up, and that the latter made it to cottage and has also had a good day out today.
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We have been fortunate by having our visit to Windermere cancelled by the C&CC because we would just have been stuck in the van as we have had horrible, wet & windy weather for most of yesterday and today, and tomorrow doesn't look to be any better.
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Hope you manage to get away soon Nellie.
We are just enjoying being together and being able to do some of the things we love. We both have lots of happy childhood memories of North Wales, as well as shared ones. Dropped on lovely with our cottage, I could live in this one permanently. It’s nice being out and about, despite the not great weather and the short daylight hours. Enjoying the Christmas lights around and about, and we came across some fantastic knit bombing in Criccieth, lots of knitted/crotcheted Xmas trees and toppers on post boxes and bollards. Best Xmas lights so far? Caernarfon Castle all lit up. Hard to beat that🤣 When the sea mist cleared, we could see the Irish coast this morning. Sea is a bit rough mind🤢
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About to post this last night at about 9.30pm when the forum went down rather early!
We couldn't make up our minds whether to bother with Christmas Decorations this year but in the end we decided that we would, although we have gone for a minimum approach in the house. Decided to put the Christmas Tree in the porch rather than the lounge. I have also put up some outside lights. The three year old from two doors down seemed rather excited about the lights which made it all worthwhile. Not many of 35 houses on our estate have so far bothered with outside lights. Perhaps I need to go for a walk in the dark!
For me this time of years is jigsaw puzzle season. I have completed one with three more to do, although I sometimes find by Christmas day this number increases! The one I have completed is called Waves, see picture.
David
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I had to take a sea sickness pill looking at your Waves David.
Good end result though.Early delivery from IKEA this morning. Poor driver said he's already behind schedule due to having to find diversions as quite a few trees down in the area. I think the amount of rain that has fallen over several weeks will have softened the earth and made tree fall worse.
Mrs WN currently getting to grips with putting it all together. I've got a few Christmas letters to write on the computer. Still can't write with a pen as fingers not quite there yet. Just glad I don't haven't had to sign any documents although I can do a passable signature left handed now. Obviously had to give up my counterfeiting enterprise.
Pouring with rain at the moment.
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Wet, dark and miserable again today. Been like that for days now house lights on all day.
WN, totally agree with you Re workmen, we are trying to get a plasterer to do a couple of small jobs, he lives 4 doors away but can you pin him down to do the job. Think it will require the hard line and have a work with his missus
once he is here he does a good job its just getting him here.Got to pop into town today, need to take stuff to my sister and I need to buy cards, 3 birthdays this month.
No decorations up for us, might not even bother with the tree. Can't be bothered with the whole event these days. We don't see the boys or the grandchildren as they prefer to be at their homes with their kids. I understand that as I was the same with ours. We will of course do a video call so will 'see' them and have a chat, as much as anyone can chat to teenagers
We are meeting up with our eldest son on Friday when he comes up to collect his 2 from boarding school. Table booked for lunch then they will drive back down to north Yorkshire. Think he will be on Christmas dinner duty as his wife fell over last week in the snow and has fractured her radial head in her elbow.
Right must get a move on and get out.
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I don’t think I would have the patience to do one like that, nice though. Do you like the more nostalgic ones? I quite like the ones that show things like chocolate bars from bygone days. Probably because they are like little picture groups, so I can do a bit at a time, then walk away. I do have a couple of good ones that are a good bit harder….Battle of Trafalgar, and Charge of the Scots Greys. One is all blue and wood, the other is all Scarlet uniforms and Grey horses, so took some finishing. The jigsaws I prefer are those wooden Wentworth ones, very expensive to buy, they have some of the pieces shaped to reflect the subject picture. Found a couple of complete ones in charity shops for a good price.
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We have lived in the same quiet cul-de-sac for 38 years and no problems. A couple of months ago early morning 6.30am a young police officer knocked on our door (scared me, I immediately thought of the worst things) asking to see our outside cameras footage, unfortunately when OH checked, the battery had ‘died’ the previous night. The Officer then went to more houses that had cameras or door bell cameras. We later heard that 3 cars had been broken into in the surrounding streets. This morning OH called for me to look at the camera footage, which he checks each morning. 1.45am and 2 police officers checking neighbours drives with torches, they checked all around both of our cars on our drive. Down the road we could see a neighbours car lights flashing. Maybe more problems. Sign of the times sadly.
A lot of our neighbours have cameras now. Like us our Son has them all around his house he always watches who is coming and going and knows when parcels etc are delivered. They have 3 teenage kids and, bless them, they can’t get away with anything, he knows exactly who they bring home and exactly what time they get home from parties etc. however much they try to get away with coming home at 3am.
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