Respecting yourself

 Sometimes we can be our worst critic with a constantly criticizing voice we hear in our heads that is never satisfied with our effort, always finding a reason why we could of done more or why someone else is always better than us.

It's easier in some way to silence the external critics, the so-called friends that just exist to always compare you with other, living through anyone that would let them than to deal with that internal critic.

Sometimes its influence is such we fail to even respond to a kind word or praise from others just shrugging our shoulders ignoring the testimony of others to our worth and the things we are good at.

Perhaps it is us who need to change?

Paying Amazon

 

You know this place don't you?

Chances are you've used it for a good while for various things and never more than in the last two or so years when at various times the High Street was either shut completely or restricted to the pure essentials.

Well the first problem I had was I wanted to add my mobile number to it which for historic reasons was never entered and in the height of the pandemic Vodafone had cancelled as they altered the terms and I didn't realize it until I saw I'd been removed from the network. 

You would think adding it would be a simple matter of updating the account profile information but I get sent a OneTimeOnly OTA code to it which after a bit of a delay came through and was duly entered but then it wanted to me to verify it by tapping it.

Well my phone is not a smartphone cos my co-ordination and fingers are badly messed up to the point I can't use one so there was no option so back to the website trailing through assistance pages that had "another method" tm (how cryptic can tech sites get???) which did send a code to my email account.

Remember email accounts? Yeah something so late 90's and 2K and that when entered worked.

Next up is anti fraud measures.

No one likes fraud and it's effects but this since Monday has been affecting payments even payments previously accepted onto the systems where for abnormal or amounts typically over £25 you have to authorize.

Again the common method of doing so is a mobile phone but you may not have you mobile listed on your bank details especially if you've been with them for absolute eons and some only have this via Apps which naturally do not run anything but a smartphone as the banks want to you into internet banking.

Now your mobile signal could be poor to nonexistant where you live or at least your computer does or you may not have a mobile of any sort, not uncommon with those who are elderly.

As I don't do apps and can't use a mobile I can see myself moving away from Amazon for high value transactions using PayPal on other sites such as Ebay who does use systems that work with simple mobile phones or even cheques.

Honestly there's so much faff today in just doing the mundane like shopping.

Birthday entry

 

Okay so I've had a birthday although a few things remain messed up after these last two year like ones family and any kind of going out is likely to be later on in the week as work continues on refitting one place we like to go.

There was a Tumblr card and message from my BFF.

Anyway given how this thing is with me it was entirely fitting that one neighbour bought me a bar of chocolate cos I really don't have any inclination toward anything specifically adult or interests even.

One thing I did get which goes back a few years for inspiration was a very special four cd and dvd set of the classic Elton John album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road that came out in 2014 which probably contains the highest amount per album of his best ever work including beyond the title track to take in Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting, Bennie and the Jets and Candle In The Wind.

I was a bit strapped for cash in that period so I bought a two cd "deluxe edition" that had the whole album plus on a second disc some remakes of the songs by today's artists such as The Band Perry and a selection from a live recording made at the Hammersmith Odeon in December of 1973 that was broadcast on the radio.

Really it was this set I wanted which give you alternative mixes and non album tracks used on the singles, the whole concert in its two halves and a dvd with surround sound mixes coupled with a 100 page book.

I was very fortunate to have it bought for me from a store that still had a copy in completely sealed.

 Similarly my original Blu Ray of this anime tended to make some funny noises while it played due to some fault in how the film was authored onto the disc so the blu ray player can play it so I got a much recent copy that also includes the dvd which didn't have this issue included.

While somethings do alter a paper based mini encyclopedia can help not just when it comes to avoiding going down rabbit holes searching for the very thing you do want, help with spending less time looking at the screen but help in recalling "facts" that given how when I'm ill I lose track of with the impact on my memory without the issues that screens have.

It has things like World Maps based on the old Mercator's Projection, an extensive outline of World History, facts about science, natural sciences and medicine coupled with famous names, places and essays on various religious, philosophical, scientific and political ideas and theories.

It also covers major world sports with competitions and winners that makes for an excellent single volume compendium of knowledge.

While something things change many do not and this will help.

There was some stocking filler things such as underwear and new socks and a new navy blue skirt too plus some money to cover things from Amazon and of CatBay tm.

I did go out for lunch locally with my folks.

The end of the line for Neighbours

While other things were raging on this week it was announced by Freemantle Productions that the iconic Australian soap, Neighbours had not found a buyer after its partner UK's Channel Five pulled out.

Neighbours it has to be said had lost a chunk of its Australian viewing  in recent years and was very much dependent on foreign sales and money to keep it in production.

 The show started in the late 1980's and was originally shown on the BBC at Midday but such was its popularity that the previously sacrosanct early evening hand over period from children's program to that for adults was shunted back to allow it to start at 5:35 on BBC1 before the 6PM evening news and this altered the times of children's shows such as Blue Peter.

The evening news was the program that marked the end of children's tv and the start of the family viewing up to 9pm in the days before dedicated children's channels.

That series launched the careers of a good number of Australian stars such as Kylie Minogue  and Jason Donovan shown here at the famous Wedding scene which had massive viewing figures at the time and whose song Suddenly by Angry Andersson became a big hit in 1989.

The reason that it was repeat shown in the early evening was due to older schoolchildren staying to watch the shown during lunch recess and the need in an age where there was no iPlayer to enable people to have a second chance to see that days episode which was kept on by Channel Five and to which the slot created for it at the BBC got reused for cheap to make quiz shows.

Today rather like the show itself that quiz show format looks tired.

It is sad for the shows fans the series will be coming to and end as production stops although the UK is a bit behind as it was a game changer in the tv world in lots of ways.

R.I.P. Neighbours.