The Tales of Missus P.

The Gadget Master

Today I’ll be waiting for my new HTC Sensation to be delivered from O2.  I opted for the cheapest delivery window;  9AM-7PM.  Steve has discovered that the HTC HD7 which uses Zune that doesn’t play podcasts in the U.K.  Therefore, he may be opting for a Droid to replace the Windows 7 phone this week.  Totally uncool but at least we have options.

Yesterday, we were going to go out somewhere but instead we stayed home and enjoyed the bank holiday.  It was windy and chilly and it was so, so nice to not have to run around somewhere for a change.  We went to Liverpool and walked all over the Wirral last weekend so I think we deserved a decent weekend at home. 

On Saturday we had to take a trip to the O2 to get an adapter for Steve’s iPhone micro SIM card that ended up being a regular SIM card that we could easily swap out instead.  Still, we got a nice walk out and I bought Norton so this laptop will finally have its internet security.  We also hit McD’s where I tried out the new C.B.O. which was way tasty. (Incidentally, yes, I do need to update that Foodie Blog soon.)

I also read that running is bad for your hips so I don’t feel as bad about only jogging once a week and using the other days for the bike.  I should add an elliptical day in here and there too.  Now that Christmas is coming soon, and I’ll have my Garmin sports band I was wondering about asking for an MP3 player that isn’t an iPod.  But with the trouble the Win7 phone has given Steve, I’m wondering how easy that will be (granted, I don’t generally listen to podcasts though.)

Finally, we’ve still be using Asda to deliver our groceries even though they messed up one order.  If we don’t have it delivered for the last open delivery slot, we generally don’t have trouble.  Being compensated for having to wait 23 hours for our groceries with free delivery for sixty days is pretty nice all in all.

Technology I Want

I'm more & more using my iPhone while I sit on the couch instead of bothering to turn on the laptop. This is why I decided that I need a tablet PC for Christmas. I don't want anything that's £500 like an iPad or anything. I'd consider an Android knockoff if I didn't think it would die in 3 months. Right now with the price and company reputation, I'm settled on a Dell Streak.

As far as the iPhone, I'm going to keep it now that my contract is over and use it on the WiFi in the house. However, I did decide to try & get another cell phone in the UK. I know the Samsung Galaxy SII is top rated, I didn't like the interface as much as the HTC. If I get that, I won't have to keep using the Blackberry Bold that freezes up so I can't type at all. Steve got a new Windows 7 phone which outshines the iPhone in looks and design. The font, screen size & graphics are way more pleasing.

I thought about waiting on an iPhone 5 but after seeing how these new HTC phones look, I'm not going to worry about spending £300 plus a monthly fee to have an iPhone. If Android Market has apps, I'm good.

I’m also interested in the FitBit and the Garmin 205 sports band to use with my jogging.  There is just way too much fun going on to not want to grab all this new technology.

I Heart Liverpool

I have plenty of things I can update on this week but first I'll talk about our trip to Liverpool. We arrived on Friday afternoon after the crowded train excitement (finding a seat without an advanced ticket is tiring on it's own). When I first saw Liverpool I was really impressed. The buildings are huge and Albert Dock was neat with the restaurants, bars and hotels built into the renovated buildings. The issue with staying at a hotel at the dock was the fire alarm. Since everything is in one big, brick building, everyone has to evaluate when the fire alarm goes off. When we got to the hotel, people had been standing outside of it as well as the next door restaurants. But the hotel was awesome. Premier Inns are always clean, comfortable & good at providing tasty breakfast.

We didn't do much site seeing that Friday night but we did see Liverpool One, a shopping mall to make love the city. Three story, outdoor, shiny, with new stores (I spotted Gap, Dr. Martens, Lego, and Vans for starters.) We ate upstairs by the cinema at Zizzi and used our O2 Priorities for free dough sticks and champagne. Yum. It was so nice to just have together time without technology to distract us. Well, aside from the iPhone coupon app. Saturday we headed to Hoylake so I could finally meet the rest of the P.s. There were 10 people, plus cats, a dog and neighbors to shake hands with as a new member of the family. It was great fun and I felt so comfortable & welcomed. I even got the biggest plate of roast turkey dinner! Now that's hospitality.

Sunday was museum day back in Liverpool. First we went next to the hotel to The Beatles Story just to be interrupted by the fire alarm after we got into the first room. We walked down towards the other building for The Beatles were we saw the White Feather Lennon Exhibit and The FabFour 4D. We went back to The Beatles Story which was more busy & got hot in some rooms (why don't all public places have an A/C?) Next was the Museum of Liverpool which was just put in this year. The building is amazing and there were tons of things to look at even though the 2nd floor wasn't open yet. We also did a quick sweep through the Maritime Museum. I saw some artifacts from the Titanic and items from the Slavery Museum section which is as depressing as it sounds. We were super tired by Sunday night and after a hot bubble bath in the hotel we slept from 9PM-7AM.

After our last tasty Premier Inn breakfast we headed back through Liverpool towards the train station. I saw James Street and the entrance for the on-foot Beatles tour. By afternoon we made our way back home. I'm still suffering from "train lag". I thought I should go jogging today but after I got up I knew this would be another day in front of the computer. I walked enough this weekend so that treadmill can wait until tomorrow.

Panic on the streets of London

There is a ton of online information that we have the ability to share or comment on these days.  If we find an article that’s interesting we share with our friends and followers and gets responses in the hopes of an active debate.  However, as with cyber bullying, is it really good to be that plugged in all the time that we react to things publically because it’s so easy?

We’ve been talking about the riots in England which, thankfully, didn’t come any where close to Newcastle.  We have a pretty good life up here and we even had another food market the other day and the more obvious police presence was really more for Match Day than anything else.

So what makes people want to riot?  Is it because “kids these days” live their lives seeing iPhone and iPad commercials and knowing they don’t have the money for them?  Is it because with rising British college tuition these kids know they can’t afford school even if they wanted to go so they would rather loot and risk imprisonment?

What about the fact that an Olympic athlete was one of the rioters?  What about the police not being present enough, due to budget cuts, so kids knew they could run rampant and no immediate punishment would be issued?  Or is it because they finally had a reason to just do crap that they always wanted to do?  I sort of think that’s what it mainly is.

The riots in Tottenham were fuelled by a gang member being fired upon by the police (in a Rodney King kind of basis for protest).  But what about Birmingham, Manchester or the few in Liverpool?  That was done because they could do it.  I mean even the kids in Tottenham were seen putting pictures on Twitter with a bag of rice they stole.  Seriously.  A £.60 bag of rice was worth getting arrested over?

Anyway, I’m glad the riots are over and nothing happened up here.  I hope the clean up efforts are quick and paid for by plenty of Council money.  I’m glad to know that the CCTV has worked and they’ve arrested over a thousands kids who just wanted to smash and burn crap for a couple of days. 

Kids these days…

August means almost Autumn

So summertime is almost over and we had a few nice, warm days here.  Today, as usual, however, is gray and rainy.  During the week it was more motivating to go out even though we did have some wind yesterday.  (The wind gets really strong in Autumn too, so I’ll report back on that later.)

I had a cold last week too so I didn’t update anything then.  But I finally got back to feeling like my old self again and even went jogging on Monday.  I got to a 25 minute jog which is way better than I’ve done before.  Once I get to 30 minutes I’ll feel like I’m actually doing something right.

I’ve also been reading more as a self-assigned goal.  I finished Twilight last night finally so I can official say that I can give an informed, albeit already assumed, opinion.  I’ll write the review for Unfinished Book Reviews soon too while I have a fresh memory of why I had to put that book down a bunch of times last month.  Now I’m on to Harry Potter so I can get prepared for Pottermore!  I already have my username: MoonstoneGlow93. (Quite an awesome name if I do say so myself.) I’m just awaiting my email to get me in.  I know Steve’s company has worked hard on Pottermore and I’m super excited to be a part of the fun.

We’re also headed to see the rest of the Pick family soon so another adventure awaits us this month.