After last month’s aborted installation of my broadband upgrade from BT, due to “a routing issue”, today is the day when Tynan Close gets its first superfast broadband customer, – that’s me! Finally, after most of us round here suffering for what feels like forever, with crappy internet speeds (1.5 Mb/s on a good day), …
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Category:Milestone
5ive Go To… Birmingham
So, here we are again – it’s that time of year, when a few of us Trainers get together for a long weekend of drink, food, drink, drink and culture. We started this now regular event, two years ago in Stratford-upon-Avon, and last year, we visited Bath. It’s the ‘usual suspects’ of Philip P, Antoinette …
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Dining Room
Out with the ‘Old’ Hot on the heels of the Kitchen makeover, is the Dining Room. The final addition – the furniture – was delivered today, and I can now say, we are free from any more makeovers (for at least a month or so!!) …and in with the New Steve PalmerI got into blogging …
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Here but not HERE!
Ahh, that’s where it is. Fibre Broadband might be there, but it’s not HERE, if you get my drift. This is the latest piece of tech to have been installed just up the road from us, to finally make Fibre Broadband a reality – but I reckon it’s VIRTUAL reality. Apparently, we’ve almost got it, …
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A Flaw in our Kitchen Plans
OK, do I get ‘pun’ of the year’? At last, the kitchen makeover is almost complete. The floor was completed yesterday and all we’re waiting for now, is the splashback behind the hob, and the swishy red window-sills. Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – …
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Holiday – Domaine de Peyrecaty, Belves, France (Day 3)
It was another very warm night that included a short visit by the resident mossie in the early hours attempting to interrupt our alcohol-infused sleeping pattern. It’s amazing how useful a folded map can be when the need arises! SPLAT! and back to sleep! We re-awoke around 7am, and after switching on the Tablet, learned …
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Tynan Close joins the 21st Century (but not today!)
The Mighty ‘BT Home Hub 5’Ancient HistoryEver since we moved here, one of things that made the area unique (apart from the Spinney, the quietness of the area and the great neighbours) was the appalling broadband speed. In the days of dial-up we had a really sloooow connection, and over the years that followed, as …
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Fibre is here! (almost!)
The history of living-where-we-live in terms of Broadband speed is one of continuous frustration! Where it seems everywhere else is getting speeds greater than this locality through their telephone connection (residents round here seem to get – at best – about 1-1.5 Mbits/second), nothing seems to have improved much over the years. Regular phone calls …
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Jaguar
It’s fair to say, (and easy to spot) that we, the Palmers, love our Jaguars. We’ve both owned s-types, and today, Neil took delivery of his latest – a rather good-looking XF-S Portfolio. It’s a stunner with it’s ‘black pack’ option – and him being the more sensible one in the family, one that’s a …
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Doctor Who – New Series
What an impossible job for Doctor Who head honcho and chief script-writer, Steven Moffat – launching a new series AND a new face for the Doctor (Peter Capaldi). Interestingly, the hype on TV leading up to last night’s episode was relatively sparse (thank goodness!) in the shape of just a few short clips on TV …
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Kitchens, Arks and Takeaways!
The Kitchen Makeover – Almost Finished We always knew today was going to be busy! It was the day we set aside for restocking the kitchen cupboards after emptying them last week in preparation for the kitchen makeover. In spite of the hard work by Anglia Interiors’s Grant, their kitchen installer, the job wasn’t quite …
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Sentimental Journey
I travelled down to London today, to the rather splendid looking Grosvenor Hotel to meet Connie R, one of Mum’s long-standing friends. Mum had left her a Ring in her Will that just happened to sport Connie’s birthstone! Interestingly, Connie was pretty sure that although they’d known each other for nearly 50 years, Connie’s had …
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Boys and their (Blue) Toys!
OK, here, as promised, are the first shots of my new toy – the rather splendid Jaguar XKR. It took my brother and I quite a while to locate the right model as there are plenty of grey ones (boring!!) or black ones (slightly less boring) out there – but we both felt that blue, …
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Ten Years a Blogger!
Whoosh! It all started on Sunday 23rd May, 2004, with my first blog, so that means I’ve now been blogging for 10 years (as of 11.10am), 2373 posts and 66656 views later, it’s time to re-sharpen my pencil! Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – …
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Flat Day – My Final Visit
A bitter-sweet day today as I travelled down to my Brother’s at ‘silly o’clock’, and then onto Mum’s flat for the ‘final clear-out’. It was hard to believe that it’s highly likely I’ll never need to visit there again in the future – a poignant moment. Our day began with the obligatory : ) early-morning …
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Tech Alert No. 0514
Come on… open the box! Technology waits for no-one – even for tech-heads like me! After almost four years of faithful service, today, we pensioned off the current Panasonic Plasma 46 inch TV (the ‘TX46P20B’) in favour of a shiny new ‘smart TV’ – a Samsung LED 46 incher (the ‘UE46F800’). It was an offer …
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The Journey
I met up with Ian today in London, near the Houses of Parliament. First up was the historical part of our day, where we visited the Jewel House, the Chapter House and Pyx Chamber and then, after a brisk walk taking us past Buckingham Palace (and an ice-cream van), we ended up at Wellington Arch, …
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And so, farewell Mum
It was a difficult day for the Palmer/Gambles clans today, as we said goodbye to Mum. We drove to the Flat, met up Neil, Debbie, Alfie and Frankie, and then our Celebrant, Richard Woolnough. We then went onto Beckenham Crematorium by car, for the Service at 1.30. I’d agreed to lead the tributes with a …
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Lent… Spent!
OK, so here we are, with just 1 minute left to go, I’m at the end of the Lent period for 2014. And, as the clock strikes midnight, it’s then end to my 44-day enforced denial of all the food and drink I really love! After nearly caving in LAST year, trying to do the …
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Tech Alert: Sky Updates its Sky-Guide
I put on the TV to find that the ‘homepage’ on my Sky-Box downstairs had changed dramatically. The Box upstairs is still showing the old layout, but I guess they’re rolling it out over a period of time. Plenty of details HERE, but my first impressions are good, in that everything just seems to be …
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A Flat Day
It was a very surreal day yesterday. Ann and I, together with Neil and Debbie, met at Mum’s Flat, and began the task of working through everything. Thanks for your kind thoughts everyone, together with the cards – they mean a lot. All your suggestions about ‘trying to remember the good times’ was the philosophy …
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RIP – Eileen Mabel Palmer
b: 1 July 1927, d: 2 April 2014 Mum passed away in the early hours of this morning, after sustaining serious burns last Friday in an accident at her Flat. We visited her at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital on Sunday, where she had been admitted to the Specialist Burns Unit. Thankfully, due to the medication they’d …
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Beckworth Emporium
You would have thought that having lived in these parts for so long, we would know every good place to shop and eat – not so! Friends had mentioned Beckworth Emporium in the past, and although we’d mentally added it to our ‘places-to-go-when-there’s-not-much-else-to-do’, we had never actually been there – and it’s only a short …
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Cats of Nine Tales
Biscuit Bon-Bon The twins turned nine today. Oh, the tales they could tell – probably more than 9 – but that would have ruined the title! Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in …
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The Generosity of Friends
VW Polo – ‘Marco’ We’re lucky enough to have lots of friends – friends, who over the years, have been very generous to us. Today was another of those times when we were ‘bowled-over’ by a someone’s actions. Lee, our good friend of many years, told us today, that after a lifetime of driving, she’s …
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The Year of the DoDO – 2013
Warning: This blog contains overt references to Doctor Who – those of a nervous disposition should hide behind the sofa! The recent 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who – ‘The Day of the Doctor’ – may have been a global hit, but much more important to me was my first year in retirement – The …
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Be More DoGGGG!
I travelled down to London today to catch-up with Sally B and Diana D. Mostly social, but we did talk a bit of business too! Thanks for lunch Sally – Carluccio’s was scrummy. Whilst I was in St Pancras International, I took the opportunity to slip into ‘geek mode’ and see if the phone would …
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HSL Project – Friday
Fifteen rolls of wallpaper, more white paint than you can shake a brush at, plus 47 tea-bags later, Honor and Karen from Paint-Pals are 99% finished. Everything looks fab and once the radiators, lights and alarm panel are re-fitted next week, we’ll be totally sorted! Some ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots next week. Nice one ladies …
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HSL Project – Wednesday
Apart from Monday, where, due to my enthusiasm for getting all the ‘little’ pre-jobs sorted, I had decorators, electricians and plumbers literally tripping over each other, the re-decoration of the Hall, Stairs and Landing is back on track and going well. Honor and Karen from Paint Pals are doing a fab job with most of …
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HSL Project – Monday
This week sees the Hall, Stairs and Landing getting a major makeover. In order to ensure the most professional of results, I’m NOT going anywhere near the wallpaper, paint, electrics or plumbing – I tend to play to my strengths, so I’m looking after teas and coffees! Steve PalmerI got into blogging quite late in …
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