Scargill

Archive for June, 2010

Amazing how something comes along and the reviewers are so keen to support something new they don’t bother to test things properly.

When it was time for Maureen to get a new phone, Orange wanted over-the-top up-front money for the iPhone, so based on rave reviews we got her the new Android phone, the HTC DESIRE

And now here we are in America, despite a roaming-enabled SIM it is UTTERLY incapable of handling AT&T or Verizon, SKYPE is not available for Android and TRUPHONE does not support that model. In other words, while we’re here, the phone is absolutely and utterly USELESS.

Orange don’t have a CLUE what’s wrong – we’ve narrowed it down to the phone, not the SIM as we swapped SIMS with my iPhone and the SIM in my phone connected immediately and the text messages came in – swap back – nothing – the Android phone may as well be a BRICK.

I can see a replacement coming along here.

Pete.

Andrew J. Flando Jr died on 20th June 2010. The wake took place in the afternoon and evening of Thursday 24th June. Friday 25th of July 2010 saw the funeral which began at 9 a.m. Friday, June 25, at Kelley & Spalding Funeral Home, 1787 Deerfield Road, Highland Park, followed by Mass at St. Mary Church, Buffalo Grove. Many of the guests finally had lunch with us at the Arboretum Club in Buffalo Grove, IL.

Andy was my father-in-law, a World War II veteran of the Navy and an attorney-at-law. He was the beloved husband for 59 years of Mary Frances “Mimi” (Heffernan). He was a great person and will be sorely missed.

Anyone wishing to leave messages of sympathy on the web, can so so by simply making a suitable entry in our guestbook.

At the lunch, the many guests present were given a short presentation of photos we’d put together from several sources, a few of which are re-presented below…

There are more photos of my family and more in the USA at my Google Web Albums site

You would THINK no-one would be buying fuel from BP – but the garage we visited had plenty of business – note that’s $2.85 a gallon! Pretty much business as usual I guess though BP is part of the top of conversation here along with constant references to people’s religious background which just escapes me completely “That’s Mrs xxxx, she’s Jewish” – I’m trying to think how we normally introduce someone…. I’m thinking “That’s Mr xxxx, he’s an engineer” or similar…   anyway, couple of rough days ahead then hopefully at the weekend we’ll get a trip into Chicago itself. I’m currently torn between the less expensive and longer open-topped bus tour, or the more expensive and shorter but startlingly modern SEGWAY tour – and of course I’ll have to look in the Apple store.

We popped into Aldis this morning, it may be just a small version but I didn’t think it was a patch on the ones I’ve seen in the UK – prices however were admirably cheap, which is more than can be said for most of the stores which I’ve already found to be very expensive – especially food!

That’s about all I have time for now, time to head off into the shower, then into the suit… and off to the wake.  Somehow I don’t think this is going to be the spiritual highlight of the trip…

A good thing about being in the USA is it makes me feel thin. Not that servings are large here but last night we popped over to Hackneys, one of my favourite places to eat when I’m here – and the picture shows the starter which is their “famous” onion dish…. and very nice with it… there are some large people here – given the choice they have in the supermarkets and the quality of the food, it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out why it’s so easy to put on weight.

As always, everyone is super nice – granted not the best of circumstances being here this time… and after the horrifying discovery this morning that Vodafone were ripping us at £29.95 for 50 meg which they deem “adequate” for most people and which I polished off in the first hour of handling emails etc, we finally got the WIFI working so at least from that perspective, all’s well.  Interestingly there’s a box with a telephone line attached that produces telephone, TV and WIFI all in one – you cannot tell the difference between the TV which is clearly coming in via the Internet – and normal TV. The usual endless channels etc.. none of which stops the WIFI coming in at up to 20meg and the phone working at the same time.

Weather is fine – it’s hot and sunny though a little humid right now, I can’t remember how to convert back to old-style Fahrenheit but I reckon it’s in the lower 30s centigrade here.  As soon as I have some transport I intend to do looking for an iPad case. Maureen has gone off shopping with her sisters.

Here’s a thing – www.bbc.co.uk – the news pages etc.. you’d expect them to be the same everywhere? Wrong – the same pages here in the US are different!!!!

I note the expected response from Labour to the budget. You would THINK that having put the country in the MESS it’s in – they would have the grace to keep quiet for a while as the coalition try to mend the damage – but no- straight in on the defensive with their pals in the unions… what WERE we thinking about keeping those guys in jobs for so long…

Oh! Nearly forgot – as you walk through the door at Hackneys – you come across this – a genuine red British phone-box! Not very often you see those in the UK!!