It's not just me!

After my last update I started to click the 'next blog' link. Almost every single blog started with the words 'Sorry for not updating in ages.....'

Irregular Update

It's quite scary how easy it is to suddenly get to five months between updates! I'm not sure that makes for a great blog, but so what?

Current situation....have been working for Royal Mail since the end of October. Hard work, especially on the feet, legs and shoulders, but am enjoying it and it's keeping me fit and losing me weight.

I started as a Christmas Casual which meant no guarantee of hours and paid minimum wage. Ended up working almost every day in November and December and most of January. Must be getting something right as they have now made me up to a real postman, though only on a twelve week rolling contract and only an official eight hours per week.

Still working just about every day that I want to, but the eight hour contract is cheaper for Royal Mail if I want a week off or go sick.

Oh.....got myself a little pocket rocket Nissan Micra as well. Will put that stuff on a seperate update.

BBC good value!

Been speaking to a couple of people on Twitter about the BBC licence fee and it struck me that it is something that I do actually feel very strongly about. There's not too many of those things, so I figured I'd say my piece.

The TV licence is currently about £12 per month, or if you work it out, just 40p per day. That pays for ALL the BBC TV channels, all the national BBC radio, digital BBC radio, the bbc.co.uk web site, world service, etc. I think that's pretty good value considering we have five people in the house and each and every one of us use at least one of those services every day.

But it seems that when asked, only 30% of the public are happy with the way this is all funded. Alternatives include subscription or advertising funding. These alternatives have a pretty even split when the public is polled. So in my understanding, about 35% of the public are quite happy to pay Sky or Virgin for their shows AND have advertising pumped at them (after all, we currently pay for Sky One, etc, and they still have adverts), or to relinquish control and decision making on the shows we watch, to the advertisers.

Now I can see the argument for subscription. I am more than happy to pay extra for the BBC channels to subsidise their lost revenue from people that don't want to pay. BUT I am not happy paying subscriptions AND receiving adverts. The reason I hate adverts is very simple - TV shows are made solely to attract advertisers to attract income. They are NOT made for the viewing public.

It's great that X-Factor is watched by a billion people every Saturday night. That's good. That's a billion happy people. But don't ever kid yourself that it's made to make the viewers happy - that is a by-product. It's made because the advertisers know there's a lot of people watching it and they pay top dollar to advertise there. It's made to keep the advertisers happy.

Now the advertisers, of course, want to advertise in shows watched by the majority. If all TV went advertising funded, then all shows would be made for the majority. The majority of people wouldn't mind this. But think about cars.

The biggest selling cars are always the Vauxhall Astra and Ford Focus. The majority buy these. What a very, very dull and uninspiring place the UK would be to drive in, is Ford and Vauxhall decided that they would only make these cars.

What a very, very horrible place the UK would be if all TV was SKY1 and ITV.

Easy Email Security

Have just learned soemthing today from the very helpful guys at http://www.theregister.co.uk/ - it seems that a lot of web based email services allow you to use custom email addresses and this can be a very good way of filtering out spam, and even detecting who is selling/losing your email address in the first place.

I currently use two main email addresses, both of which are web based (though I use a combination of POP3 and IMAP to actually access them) and they are bryan.anderson@hotmail.co.uk and brykins@gmail.com. Now, both of these services (and others by the sound of it) allow you to add extra bits to your email address just before the "@" symbol.

All you need to do is to tag on a "+" and some text. For example, I can give out an email address of brykins+blog@gmail.com and the email will still come to my normal gmail.com mailbox, but I can filter out everythings with "+blog" into a seperate folder. I could use brykins+tesco@gmail.com for my grocery shopping and should I start to get spammed by unknown companies, then I will know who let my address out into the wild.

Just thought I'd pass the tip along.

iPhone 4

Just waiting till the 4th July.....Mrs B's mobile upgrade is due then and she's already (a) told me she doesn't want a replacement for her Blackberry Pearl and (b) spent the money that *could* be raised by selling her upgrade on eBay.

So I wonder how much T-Mobile will want for an iPhone 4 on upgrade?

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned....

...it's been two months since my last blog post.

Amazing quite how time flies - of course, most would say that it does when you're "having fun" but it seems to fly past when you're not having fun as well. And not having fun has been the reason for the lack of posts here. This last few months have been a struggle but it looks like things *might* just be turning a corner.

On the job front, I had four and a half jobs at the last count. That's gone down a little now, as I am still teaching IT one day per week and have take a four-days-per-week sales job for a company based near Cambridge. I did have an offer of four months work for HMRC (the Tax Office!) but simply couldn't bring myself to work for those money grabbing buggers.

The half a job is the most interesting one. Six years ago I was self-employed and my largest single client was a training/coaching provider - I looked after their IT, marketing, sales info, etc, and wrote all their course material for them. With me going back to work, we lost touch but just recently I saw an advert for an admin position at a (different) training/coaching company. Have been along and seen them for both a first and a second interview and the role seems to be 100% what I am looking for, with the right size company. They are local and looking to move even closer to me, so it all *fits*. Problem is, that was three weeks ago and they are still interviewing. I am resisting the urge to ring them and shout at them to stop as they have found the right person.

I ought to know by the end of this week. You'll know the answer - if I stop updating again then it's cos I have crawled under a stone to lick my wounds. If I make more updates, expect them to be more up-beat due to having a job that actually makes use of my few talents.

My G2 -> Desire Success Story

On Monday 26th April I received a brand new HTC Desire mobile as a replacement for my T-Mobile G2 (HTC Hero) that I had been using since December 2009. With 3G signal problems and constant missed calls and texts, the G2 was quite obviously not up to scratch and with more and more people complaining on the T-Mobile forum, I felt that I ought to do something about it.

I am posting this in the hope that it may give others some encouragement and ideas on how to go about complaining:

My initial email went on the 30th of March:

----------QUOTE----------

To: cust.rel@t-mobile.co.uk

I have a T-Mobile G2 handset on a monthly contract. The handset was received by me towards the end of last year and I am on an eighteen month contract however I am having a number of issues with the handset:

(a) It will not maintain a data connection using 3G. I myself live in a non-3G area but when I travel into a 3G area I experience the same 3G problems as a number of other users. The phone reports 3G on the screen but when browsing/downloading it will NOT transfer data. It sometimes shifts to HSDPA but more often simply fails to download and ends up switching to GPRS – a very slow data rate and certainly NOT the service I am paying for.

(b) Many times my phone will miss calls – the calls are being sent direct to answer phone and I have to re-boot the phone to start receiving calls again. This is a huge inconvenience as you can imagine.

(c) SMS messages are failing to get through to the phone or are being delayed by anything from fifteen minutes to over an our. Again, this is causing me inconvenience.

Currently the phone is unreliable and is, in my opinion, unfit for purpose and I would welcome your suggestion on what my options are with regard to a replacement. I do NOT wish to cancel my T-Mobile contract as I am overall happy with the service and the price plan, but the handset itself is NOT of a satisfactory quality.

For your information I have made sure the handset is running the latest version of the software from your web site, and have fully tested the handset without any additional applications or configurations other than the default ones. I have re-booted the phone, wiped the internal memory, etc.

----------END QUOTE----------

This was followed by receiving a call from T-Mobile. The first person I spoke to assured me that there was nothing wrong with the handset. I asked to speak to her manager and a “Floor Manager” came on who advised me that I needed to provide them with five postcodes where I was finding that the 3G wasn’t transferring data. I explained that this would be impractical at best and near impossible at worst.

He then advised me that the reason I miss calls and texts is due to living in a non-3G area so the phone is getting a weak signal when set to 3G. He advised me to set the phone to 2G when in a non-3G area and 3G when in a 3G area. I suggested he was fobbing me off, informed he I would be making a formal complaint and hung up on him.

I then sent this:

----------QUOTE----------

To: MDTMOB@t-mobile.co.uk

I have today been speaking to two of your support staff regarding problems with my T-Mobile G2 handset. This was provided by your company towards the end of last year on an 18 month contract and has recently started to exhibit two of the “known issues” that are making the phone, in my view, unfit for purpose.

The handset itself is very good, feature and construction-wise, but it has an issue with calls not being sent through to the handset (or the handset not notifying of incoming calls) and in maintaining data on a 3G connection.

These issues can be found at:

Phone not notifying of calls:

http://support.t-mobile.co.uk/discussions/index?page=forums&topic=8010381029d6090123c3bc94d6007c47

http://support.t-mobile.co.uk/discussions/index?page=forums&topic=80103834aaca0127056e04620070e2

No data transfer on 3G:

http://support.t-mobile.co.uk/discussions/index?page=forums&topic=8010384abbabde01276d5f3caa005e2d

http://support.t-mobile.co.uk/discussions/index?page=forums&topic=8010386cc3d18901276dca37bd0064b9

And then there are the other issues that I haven’t even asked your support people about:

G2 suddenly going “dead” and needing battery pull:

http://support.t-mobile.co.uk/discussions/index?page=forums&topic=80103864a032901275f3d54db007899

http://support.t-mobile.co.uk/discussions/index?page=forums&topic=80103834aaca0127056e0462006e1e

Your customer service people were very polite, however considering the number of people talking about these same problems I found it hard to believe that they were unable to offer any kind of solution or to admit that there even *is* a problem with this handset and 3G.

Your advisers suggestions were as follows:

On the subject of no data being transferred on 3G, he asked me to call back when I had at least FIVE postcodes where this is happening. I explained that (a) it happened everywhere when I was in a 2G area and (b) I don’t *know* the postcodes of all the places I am (for example – shopping). This sounded to me very much like a “go away and come back another time when someone else might deal with it” answer.

On the subject of missing calls (and delayed texts) the adviser suggested that it was due to the handset being set to try and connect to 3G and my home address being in a non-3G area. He advised me to go into the settings on the handset every time I was in a non-3G area and change the handset to only look for 2G. Then change it back when I am in a 3G area. This is totally, totally impractical and again suggested to me a brush-off answer.

Having been with T-Mobile for many years, with two other contract handsets in the family AND a pay-as-you-go, I am NOT looking to move networks as I am happy with the service, coverage and prices of T-Mobile. I am, however, very unhappy with the handset that I am left with and the apparent lack of concern and knowledge of your support staff, especially on issues that have been confirmed as “known” by T-Mobile staff in your own forums.

A number of your forum members have already written to Watchdog and Trading Standards and at least one has filled out an Ofcom “complaint not being handled” feedback form. I am avoiding these issues as I do not feel that a company of your size and standing need be dragged through the public eye with the Android/G2 fiasco, but please can you advise me on my next course of action?

PS: I would appreciate all correspondence in email as (a) I am able to keep a copy and maintain a history and (b) I have extreme difficulty in understanding your support staff at the call centres I am usually transferred to.

----------END QUOTE----------

To which I received this:

---------- QUOTE----------

Good afternoon Mr Anderson

Thank you for your email about the problems you are experiencing with the G2 phone.

Before I can look into this for you, I will first need to implement certain procedures in line with our privacy policy. To answer your query I need to access your account and I need to make sure you are the account holder.

When people contact us by email we do have to be careful and to make sure we have as much security information as possible. We do not want to give out account information to people who are not entitled to it, this is why we need to ask for your password.

To allow me to look in to this matter for you, please can you reply to this email with your account password.

If you cannot remember your password, can you please tell me the amount of your last bill and how you paid it.

Thank you again for your email, I am sorry I was unable to help you today. Please be assured, once I can access your details, I will look into this as a matter of priority.

Kind regards

(name withheld)
Complaints Investigation
T-Mobile

----------END QUOTE----------

My reply:

---------- QUOTE----------

My account password is “**********”.

As can be seen here: http://support.t-mobile.co.uk/discussions/index?page=forums&topic=8010380706d79930127a9fadba8007725 there are many people with the very same problems.

----------END QUOTE----------

Shortly after, I received a missed call from T-Mobile. I didn’t answer and they emailed me this:

---------- QUOTE----------
Good afternoon Mr Anderson

Thank you for replying to my email and confirming your security details. I am grateful for this as it allows me to access your account. I am sorry to hear of the problems you have had with the G2.

I have looked into these issues you have experienced and I am afraid these are not known faults. Due to the problems you are experiencing, I am happy to offer an exchange of the same phone.

Please contact me on the number below to organise this. I am available next week from Tuesday due to the bank holidays.

Calls to this number are charged at local rate if you are a BT customer, however please check your BT plan. If you are with another provider this may differ, so please check. (Please note calls to this number from your mobile will be charged at 40p inc VAT per minute.)

I look forward to hearing from you soon Mr Anderson.
Kind regards

(name withheld)
Complaints Investigation
T-Mobile

----------END QUOTE----------

I called and (name withheld) was actually off – she’d gone home, but someone else sorted the address. The replacement came on the Tuesday after the bank holiday (6th April) and on the following day I sent this:

---------- QUOTE----------

Dear (name withheld),

Thank you for sorting out the replacement handset. However this one is showing exactly the same issues as the previous ones with 3G and it’s 2G signal strength is even worse than the one just returned. With the previous handset I was able to make and receive calls/texts when on 2G anywhere in the house. With this handset I receive no signal downstairs and one bar upstairs. Sending texts is a major issue as even with apparent signal the phone is reporting that it is unable to send.

It is plain that the G2 is NOT fit for purpose and I would like to ask what can be done to rectify this situation as I am now paying a monthly contract for a phone that can (a) make and receive no calls, (b) make and receive no texts and (c) is not able to use any 3G signal anywhere otherwise calls and texts do not come through.

Kind regards

----------END QUOTE----------

Turned out we have a problem with our local mast – I brought this up with her later on when she called me on Thursday. The first time she called I didn’t answer and she left a message for me to call her back. The second time was about half past four on Thursday. (name withheld) was very nice and accepted that the handset was not up to scratch – the signal problem I clarified with her and accepted that it was a localised temporary problem as they are still working on the transmitter.

I did press that the missing calls were a major issue along with the missing texts and that I have been using the phone in various locations to test this fully. I had indeed driven from Peterborough to High Wycombe and back on that very day to collect my children so their records could show every single cell tower I connected to throughout the day. They do check things like that.

(name withheld) then offered a replacement handset. Just like that. I explained that I tested software and web sites on mobile devices (half true – I work for a web site testing company part time) and that I therefore needed a smartphone with the ability to run apps. I asked if they did the iPhone (knowing that officially they didn’t) and she said no.

I explained that I therefore needed to stay with an Android device but of their current range, the Galaxy Portal and the LG were both of a lesser spec that the G2 and neither had a confirmation of the latest OS updates. I then pressed that I needed a handset that was kept up to date with the 2.1 update and explained my concerns over the Sony X10 and Sony’s reputation for being very slow in issuing updates. (name withheld) asked me to hold for a second while she looked if there were any other Android phones due to come to T-Mobile in the next month or so but said no.

That only left the Desire, so I asked outright: “is it possible for you to send me an HTC Desire as a replacement?”

(name withheld) said that would be fine and she would just check that there was one available. She put me on hold for a couple of minutes and then informed me that there was no stock (I asked if I could collect one in-store but she said that this upgrade was not like-for-like, therefore out of process, so had to be sent by her) but that she would check daily and send one out as soon as they came in. Would I like it sent to my home address?

In addition she said that she would give me seven days to then transfer everything from my G2 to the Desire. I said not to worry – it all sync’s and data is on the SD card so they can do a replace and collect at the same time and she said that they wouldn’t take the G2 back but that it would be blacklisted (fine – handy mp3 player for the wife!).

Finally I asked if it was okay if, when I got home, I could write a note to her and have her confirm it so I had something for my records. She said no problem so I wrote:

---------- QUOTE----------

Dear (name withheld),

Just to confirm our telephone conversation this afternoon. This replacement G2 is showing the same problems with 3G and data. I would like to accept your offer of an alternative handset, namely an HTC Desire, as I understand that this handset does not suffer from the same 3G issues. I also understand that this handset is currently out of stock but that you will be checking stock daily and will send one out on next day delivery as soon as available.

If you could be so kind as to confirm that the above is correct, then we can touch base in a day or two regarding stock.

Kindest regards

----------END QUOTE----------

To which I received the reply:

----------END QUOTE----------

Good morning Bryan

Thank you for your email requesting confirmation of my resolution.

I am happy to offer a non like for like exchange to the HTC Desire. Unfortunately there are none in stock but I will be checking daily.

I look forward to speaking to you soon.

Kind regards
(name withheld)

----------END QUOTE----------

That was Friday 9th April. (name withheld) then did indeed keep in touch, calling me every other day to tell me that there were no Desires in. By the 22nd I was getting frustrated seeing that some Desires had indeed been sent out and emailed (name withheld) links to the forum showing people receiving phones. On the morning of the 23rd I received a call from (name withheld) saying that a Desire had been sent out to me and I ought to have it Saturday or Monday.

It turned up Monday.

I would point out that everything since my second email has been addressed to and replied from MDTMOB@t-mobile.co.uk so that is the email to get stuff done. (name withheld) has been very helpful and never once insisted I was in the wrong at all. I did however, all the time, try to get over that the lack of 3G itself was far less of an issue than the missed calls.....after all, data is not an essential part of the contract whereas the ability make/receive calls is.

So I now feel guilty but happy. And loving my Desire. Though not yet worked up the guts to test 3G and calling/texting again....currently on 2G and WiFi!

Mobile Good News.....at last!

After the on-going issue with the G2/Hero (signal problems, turning off, and total lack of 3G), I am more than happy now. Long conversation with a very nice lady at the T-Mobile Complaints Handling department and they are sending me a brand spanking new HTC Desire....when they are back in stock.

Have had it confirmed by email from them - this is a new phone and probably just about the best thing out there right now. If I were taking this same contract out now, they would be charging me £100 for the handset. And they are sending me one to keep me quiet about all the G2 issues. Shan't complain!

All I need to do now is to keep in touch with them and make sure they check stock daily (though I have heard that the shipment is due in early next week) and then I can put a review here and make you all green with envy!

Android Update, Update

Second day with the replacement handset and ZERO phone signal just about anywhere in the house, just about all day. Hoping that it's a network issue today (have asked the very helpful T-Mobile Twitter team to look into it) but if not then this could well be the death-knell for my Android experience.

Much as I love the device, Android OS and the apps, if I can't make or receive calls then there's not a lot of point in paying every month. The next stage will be to get them to change it and I'll probably end up going back to Blackberry.

Bold 9700 looks nice.....

Android Update

I hope I have timed this correctly. Rumours are around that suggest us T-Mobile G2 / HTC Hero users will get an update to Android 2.1 sometime in April or maybe May. This ought to solve a lot of the issues we are having with our Android phones (connections, software incompatibilities, etc) so fingers crossed. However, in the meantime I have started the process of a change of handset with T-Mobile.

Looking through all kinds of forums it seems that T-Mobile's standard process is:

(1) they insist that there's nothing wrong with anything, anywhere and fob you off for three months.

(2) you write and complain to customer services who call you back to say that (1)

(3) you write to to the Managing Director of T-Mobile UK and the email gets intercepted by the complaint handling team. They call you back and say that they will send a replacement phone out same day.

(4) the replacement phone has EXACTLY the same issued - because it's an issue with the software and not simply a faulty handset.

(5) T-Mobile say that the new handset needs to go away for repair which will take two weeks.

(6) T-Mobile decide that there's nothing wrong with the handset.

(7) you write a letter to the Managing Director claiming that the handset is quite obviously unfit for purpose, etc, and copy in Trading Standards and Watchdog.

(8) T-Mobile call you and ask what phone you would like to exchange your crap Android thing for.

I am at stage 3.5 - my replacement handset came today and all is okay at the moment. But that's because I have it set to 2G only (it can't make or receive calls or texts if set to 3G in a 2G area!) and haven't given it too much of a run through. I have a feeling that two days after the upgrade comes out, I may find that it's not solved any of the issues and will have to move on to step 4.

Meantime, it's business as usual. Shame, cos I really do like the handset and Android as an operating system is really, really nice to use. Just Google/HTC are messing it right up. 

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and goodwill shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

What happened to email?

Seems that now everyone I know has either a Twitter account or a Facebook account (or both) along with MSN, AIM and Google Talk, no-one ever sends me email. I've spent many, many hours making sure I have a working email set up that syncs over a desktop PC, a laptop and a mobile phone, and it all works now. But people insist on sending me Twitter direct messsages, Facebook wall posts or instant messenger alerts instead of typing up a proper email.

Thing is, instant messaging and Twitter are both very "immediate" - if I don't reply there and then, chances are the message will be lost or go unnoticed. Messages on Facebook only ever get seen when I log in to Facebook. The thing I have always loved about email is that I can read it when I want to, where I want to, mark it as needing attention later on, copy it, forward it, print it, etc. Many of these things I can't do with any of the "new" methods.

I guess I understand a little of how other people felt when email started to take over from hand written letters. I just hope that things will settle down with all these different ways of talking and we can all get back to using one thing that works for everyone.

Like email.

Why I might be sticking with Android....

The G2/Hero went on Ebay and it sold....or it least it would have if I had accepted the offer. Shame that the offer was for two-thirds the price of a half-way decent iPhone. So - unless I want to get rid of the G2 and go back to basics or get something two years out of date, I need to stick with it for a while longer.

Let's see what the update to 2.x Android OS brings in April. 

Why I'm Leaving Android

I've given it over three months and I am reluctantly going to give up on Android as a mobile phone choice. I have a T-Mobile G2 (which is a re-branded HTC Hero) and although I love it to bits as a bit of hardware, Android itself leaves a LOT to be desired right now.

So the handset is on Ebay and I have to work out what to do instead - iPhone (which would mean a second hand one unlocked and therefore running a couple of versions behind) or something simpler as I don't want to go back to Blackberry.

My thoughts are swaying towards an iPod Touch for apps and games, and a simpler, cheaper phone for calls, texts and checking email when out and about. We'll see.

But why am I giving up Android? Here's a just a few of the reasons:

(a) 3G support is awful - the phone has to stay stuck to 2G only to make it usable. When on 3G it suddenly stops transferring data for as much as fifteen minutes. It's a known issue with certain phones on certain networks but no-one seems to be taking responsibility for it and fixing it.

(b) OS updates. The phone came with Android version 1.5 (even though it was bought months after 1.6 was released), with the general talk round the internet that 1.6 would be imminent. Then Google announced 2.x (who knows if it's 2.0 or 2.1? I can't tell!) and HTC then decided that they would skip 1.6 and go straight to 2.x  - more delays. Of course, then T-Mobile have to edit it and add their bits to it, so we're looking at *maybe* April, though nothing is yet confirmed.

(c) Market Place. Great idea - have a totally unrestricted Market for apps, unlike the control freakery of Apple and the App Store. Shame that I can only browse the Market on the handset (why no desktop/web version?) and shame that searching is essentially the same as "give me a random app" (why can't Google make a decent search function - I heard that they knew something about searching once). Then there's the fact that there is almost nothing stopping anyone uploading apps to the Market. So we have hundreds and hundreds of duplicate apps - soundboards or wallpaper collections. All the same, just with different sounds or pictures in. And how do you find good, new apps when listing apps by date order just brings all these duplicates as they keep re-submitting them?

(d) All syncing is done through Google's online services. Great that they are, they are ten years behind the functionality of Outlook. Google Calendar and Contacts remind me of Palm Desktop from long ago. With no ability to sync a huge number of fields from Outlook, the PIM applications become next to useless for anyone wanting more than the very basics. And forget about syncing Notes to To-Do's as they simply don't.

(e) Support is non-existent. There is a thread on Google's own Android Marketplace forum that was started by a Google employee. He asked for details of anyone having trouble downloading from the Market. He started the thread in May 2009 and to date (March 2010) he has had over 500 replies and NOT ONCE have Google acknowledged the problem or that anything is being done on it. This is just one example, but Google are spending development time on the Nexus One OS with animated wallpapers and forgetting to sort out the basics and the real issues. Google are developing the "sizzle" and forgetting the "sausage".

(f) Applications - iPhone has been around longer and has many, many more users. Combine this with the fragmentation in Android hardware and software versions and developers are simple not developing for Android as there's no market. Applications are poor cousins to the iPhone versions in almost every case.

(g) Application storage - linking in with (f) above, my son is a great example. He has run out of applications storage his device because all applications have to be installed to the internal memory of the handset. He has over 2Gb of empty space on his memory card and he has money to spend - real cash to give to developers. But he can't because to buy more apps he would have to uninstall current ones. So there's a possible customer the developers have lost.

There are many, many other reasons why I am giving up on Android but these are the main ones. Yes, they may all be sorted in furture OS updates but iPhone, Windows Mobile and even Symbian do not have these problems.

So bye bye to the 'droid. It's been an experience. 

Work looking up.

After being in sales since I left school in 1989, I think I am finally moving away from it. Although the money is good, it's not the most important thing any longer and with Mrs B gradually becomming more and more qualified in her Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, I can take more of an earning back-seat.

My last sales job ended at the start of February when the guy I was helping out decided to close the business leaving me with nothing. That was the final straw and since then I have been looking for something new. It seems to be coming together now.

As of the 5th March I am tutoring in Information Technology for the Peterborough Council for Voluntary Services (a lottery funded business school for voluntary and charity organisations). It's only a couple of hours per week but it pays well and could be a good lead in to more tutoring work.

I'm also now a registered "Internet Assessor" for a large American company, working anything between ten and twenty hours per week rating search engine results. Money isn't great but I can do it at home, at times to suite me.

I've also been offered a job with HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs....the TAX MAN!) in the records office here in Peterborough. Not sure yet if I will take that as it's three or four days per week on very poor money. Waiting on news of Mrs B going full time instead.

Overall....things looking up a bit.

Peterborough to Grantham!

Did someone a (paying) favour today and delivered a parcel for them to Grantham. Shame that someone decided to do a crash somewhere between Grantham and Stamford very early so they closed the A1 leading to a 37 mile diversion. Which itself wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't gone through Oakham and then Melton Mowbray and if they hadn't been slowed right down by roadworks.

All in all, an 80 mile round trip that should have taken two hours at most turned into 120 miles and six hours.

This is what I've been reduced to to try and pay the bills.

So much for that!

Great plans and so on.....the idea really, really was to make sure I updated every single day. In the words of my (soon to be) teenage son: "EPIC FAIL". For some reason, thursday, friday and the weekend just sort of slipped past un-noticed.

Well....I say slipped past - friday/saturday simply knocked me on the head and strolled on past while I was asleep. Something went wrong inside me and everything felt awful so fourteen hours sleep crept up and kidnapped me.

Funny thing, sleep.....fourteen hours on Friday night, pretty normal (for me) five hours on Saturday night, then last night I managed to see 1.30am, 2.30am, 3.30am and 4.30am on the clock before being woken by the alarm at 6.30am. Today is mostly about tiredness and grumpiness.

My Twitter "Family"

First, I must say that the people below were not consulted about this.

No major news today so straight into a top five. This time, my five Twitter "Family" members:

(5) @fudgecrumpet and @Nettofabulous - two grumpy uncles sat in the corner slagging off the world and making me piss my pants with laughter.

(4) @Stickyplasters - she's my big sister who is always on hand to lend a sypathetic ear when I need a moan.

(3) @nik_kee_dee - my slightly deranged younger sister who all my friends want to shag but are secretly a bit scared of. Like Angelina Jolie in a way. Without the lips. Or the tattoos. Or the small brown people cluttering up the house.

(2) @jason_manford - the brilliantly funny big brother who, when in a good mood, will have a bloody good laugh with you. But still frightens your friends a bit.

(1) @LuceKD and @Richard_Gable - I want them to adopt me.

Ouch - that was harder than I thought. I follow SO many fun people on Twitter and love them all.

One day late!

Well it had to happen - what with a full day's work, home to feed boys, take one of them to piano then run around collecting prescription pills for a friend who now lives 100 miles away, I never got round to writing anything here yesterday.

So - very quick top five......chocolate bars!

(5) Twirl - none of my top four are ever available in vending machines. Twirls are.

(4) Caramac - does this actually class as chocolate? It's sort of chocolate-ish.

(3) Crunchie - too noisy in the mouth to eat while watching TV though.

(2) Ripple - problem is they are just too small. Pack of four is good!

(1) Galaxy - not the poncy new ones with things in, just normal old-fashioned Galaxy.

Day Four......almost

Busy day today getting kids ready to go back to school, cleaning house, haircuts, etc, so no real entry today.

Five current favourite songs:

(1) Empire State Of Mind - Alicia Keys

(2) Ventura - Lucinda Williams

(3) I Got A Feeling - Black Eyed Peas

(4) Your Sister Cried - Mary Gaultier

(5) I Cried For You - Katie Melua

Day Three......

And although I am still "on holiday" so nothing has been done on the "big project"*, I have managed to keep the one-blog-per-day promise AND haven't eaten anything particularly bad for me. That's mostly due to the fact that all the Xmas goodies have now gone with just the cheap chocolate coins and the half empty brandy butter in the fridge.

No real significant achievements today, other than braving Asda for the weekly shop (during which I did buy myself the 2010 calendar issue of FHM - well....I dad to as no-one bought it for me for Xmas this year....first time in a long time.) and I feel I have somewhat let myself down by wasting the evening watching The Simpsons Movie and "celebrity" Big Brother. At least I can sleep sound in the knowledge that I won't be missing anything half-way interesting by NOT watching it again for the next 27 days.

So in the event of any big ground-breaking news and as it's now a two-day-old tradition, I shall list another five favourite things. This time I shall go a bit specialist and list the five best bits of software I have found in my couple of week with an Android phone:

(1) BeebPlayer - totally, utterly brilliant. I can now watch live BBC TV anywhere I get WiFi or 3G signal, along with anything on the BBC iPlayer.

(2) Twidroid - of course, I *must* have a Twitter application on any phone nowadays and this seems to be the best right now.

(3) K-9 Mail - much better than the default Email application, though I have a feeling that as I am staying with a Google phone for the next eighteen months, I may soon be officially changing my email address to my Gmail one. That's gonna hurt.

(4) Flight Director - I was so down for days when I gave back my work iPhone and lost Flight Control. Happier now.

(5) Dolphin Web Browser - simply beats ANY mobile web browser I have seen. And yes - that does include the iPhone one!

Oh! I just noticed that I have done this one with FIFTY minutes to spare! Go me!

* the "big project" is what I am now going to call the magazine. I have the draft of the business plan, a draft outline of issue one, an idea of who to hit for advertisers. All I need to really work on to make it viable is a way to VERY QUICKLY create the readership database.

2nd January....day two!

Not a great start to my 'blog every day' plan....five to midnight and only just rembered!

Following on from the 'five favourite' things started yesterday, I figured today I'd run down my five favourite soft drinks:

(5) Cherry Coke
(4) Cherry Tango
(3) Ice Cold Milk
(2) Dr Pepper
(1) Monster Ripper

That's all. It's late, I'm watching Se7en and the battery on this phone is very nearly dead.

1st January 2010

(Okay....so it's officially the 2nd by the time I actually sat and wrote this, but as I'm still up, it's still the 1st to me.)

This blog has become neglected in the last few weeks...mostly because it's been a struggle just to get through 2009 without having to try and update this thing all the time. BUT there are three things planned for 2010:

(a) Lose two stone in weight

(b) Get the magazine up and running

(c) Update this thing every day

Having done nothing on (a) or (b) today, I felt I at least need to do (c). So......here's my five favourite things on my desk right now:

(1) My phone - it's a T-Mobile G2 (also known as an HTC Hero) and it runs the Android operating system. Had it now for a couple of weeks and it's been a bit touch and go, but am getting used to it now and loving it more and more each hour. Bloody useful and so, so much nicer that those iPhone things.

(2) Yoko. She's not actually ON the desk, but on the shelf above it. She's a tiny little Chinese Dwarf Hamster who sleeps 23 out of 24 hours but is very cute around about midnight.

(3) My BluTac - there just always seems to be a lump of it around and I just have to fiddle while watching iPlayer or whatever crap I have downloaded (currently 24 series four).

(4) My USB stick....Sandisk 8GB Titanium....sleek and sexy and always with me.

(5) A bowl of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes - no explanation needed :-)

Cheap Xmas!

It dawned on us that we can't afford to do Xmas this year. Well, we can but not in the true spirit of the season: over expensive, credit reliant shopping binges that we're told we ought to do by the media. So we've settled on something much smaller, limiting ourselves to just £200 for the whole shebang. And that really is everything - each other, three boys, family dinner, etc. Going to be a struggle but then why not? The rest of the year has been and we wouldn't want to go soft now!

Took a walk in to town at lunch time and bought some Fimo. Having spent a nice couple of hours the other day fiddling with Plasticine with Tommy, I thought back to the little Xmas decorations Mrs Brykins and I used to make in our teens. That led me on to thinking what a nice and thoughtful way of spending very little money on people this year.....so if you know me and deserve a gift this year, expect tree decorations, keyrings and other useless junk!

Tomorrow is another day.....

I'm going to start putting the title to these posts AFTER writing them. Mostly because I am starting to write this one with no idea where it's going.

Felt bad all day today - up early to sort out lunches for the boys then fell back into bed at 7:30....only to be woken by Mrs Brykins stomping around at quarter to nine trying to get the boys out the door to school. Bless her - she'd seen me zonked back out so managed to get herself up and ready for work and organise the boys and take them to school.

She could have been a bit bloody quieter though.

Then somehow managed to go back to sleep until almost mid-day, waking with a horrible headache which has been around all day.

So headache = no real brain power, so nothing very much got done.

Tomorrow I WILL get re-started on the business plan. I promise myself.

Ah - there's the title!

Very Little To Report

It's been a while since I updated here, but there are the odd few people (or few odd people) that do look in, so a guilt-update is called for.

Problem is, very little to report! Days currently consist of getting the boys up, making breakfasts and packed lunches, walk to school, home to do cleaning, washing and cooking, bit of Facebook and an episode of 24 or something, collect kids, feed them, do homework, put them to bed, veg out in front of Twitter.

Things may change a little from next week - start work again! Only three days per week so still plenty of cooking and cleaning time. Depressingly it's another job in sales, and that just gave me a point to this post: Tell your children to find something they enjoy doing before they fall into sales!

With no formal qualifications in anything, I drifted in to sales 20years ago. I've hated a total of nineteen years and eight months of it I think. Who in their right mind would WANT to be the person that interrupts people with phone calls or visits to their office to peddle something that, if they wanted, they would find online or in the Yellow Pages? Who would enjoy being told to get lost, to have the phone hung up on them?

Having needed to earn the money to make sure at least one parent could be home while the kids are growing up, I had to stick at it. Now, nearing 40 and in the middle of the worst recession in my lifetime, it's proving impossible to move out of it - especially as I am now having to earn to fund my wife being able to work part-time to gain her own qualifications.

So please, please make sure your kids have an idea of what they like to do and get some training, experience and qualifications!

(Think I'll avoid updating for a bit longer or these will get depressing.)

I can feel myself getting older....

I have a room full of Boy Scouts playing Monopoly here and am huddled in the corner on the pretext of making sure they understand the rules, but really just to make sure they don't get too sweary. But watching out for sweary boys isn't what's making me feel old.....it's the fact that Monopoly now doesn't seem to come with any money!

Not sure if it's just this particular edition, but there's no cash involved. Instead, each player is issued with a credit card and there is a bleep-making machine that transfers funds from one card to another. I can see that it's a nice gimmick for the kids, but how does it teach them anything about handling money?

One of the boys is mine and I remember him, not so very long ago, arguing for some new football boots. I had told him that we had no money right then and his reply was a casual "well go to the cash point then". I had to explain (and it took a while) that the cash point didn't just print money but only gave me the money that I had in the bank. Nothing in the bank, nothing out of the cash point.

But it did make me realise that kids don't really SEE as much money as I did when I was small. That's not to say I was rich, but I do recall seeing my parents pay for things with cash. I understood that people worked for money, that money went into pockets and then out and into the hands of shop-keepers, garage owners, publicans, etc.

In my old age I am now thinking "kids these days....they don't know the worth of money....they think that there's always going to be money on a credit card or out of a hole in the wall". It makes me sad because it's true but it makes me sadder that I am even thinking it.

Warm and pleasant feeling

Today I was amazed to discover that there is at least one person reading this. Gave me a nice, warm feeling inside. And that's NOT gay, okay?

New job....sort of.

Having been hunting for a new job since mid-July, it seems that the hunt is almost, sort of, over. I've had a couple of meetings with a guy that runs a security company and, all being well, I ought to be starting on the 2nd of November for him.

I'm still working for myself - MUST call the tax man and tell him I am self-employed again - doing sales and marketing for him over the East Anglia region. They provide security patrols, on-site guards, etc, for factories, warehouses, offices and so on.

Good thing is that it's only three days per week - and they are as flexible as I want, so I can still do school stuff, have two late mornings, mess about on Twitter and Facebook and all the things I have got used to over the past few months. It'll also mean I will have the time to do the college courses I am thinking about - so I can (eventually) teach IT in evening classes or to corporate clients.

Start of a new chapter? We'll see - I know all about eggs and pregnant chickens.

Couple more old photos

Just so I can go to bed later tonight knowing that I had at least made an update today, I'm gonna throw a few scans of some old slides from the early 1990's....

Lazy Weekend

Mrs Brykins and the two eldest boys are in France for the weekend - left Friday afternoon and not back till Tuesday afternoon. That leaves just me and little Tommy at home so we're bumming around and doing nothing at all.....no washing, no ironing, no hoovering. Nothing.

Today we lazed around in bed till eleven, got up and had Chocolate Croisants for breakfast, then ham rolls for lunch. We walked down to the chippy for cod and chips for dinner then ate Rolo deserts while watching Merlin on TV.

Got Tommy tucked up in bed and watched back-to-back American Office (which is, I have to say, so much better than the UK version) and now am catching up on Facebook and Twitter.

Found this photo in my archives - memory jogged by someone on Twitter who took a squirrel picture.

It was taken in the grounds of Christchurch Abbey back around 1992 or so and I do recall sending it to KP Foods at the time. They wrote back saying that it was a shame but they were just about to re-brand their nuts.

Bad timing. Again.

Do I do enough to have a blog?

Just noticed that I've not put anything on here recently and sat down to write something. And realsed that right now, life is so crap that there's really nothing for me to say.

Take today - got a lie in as Mrs Brykins took boys to school. Then she went to work, so I lay in bed and finished a book that I have already read twice. Got up, saw that Bioshock had finished downloading so installed and tested that....seems to work okay.

Went through my email and applied for another couple of jobs - trying to do at least four a day now, though only getting any kind of confirmation to one or two. Still - that's a numbers game.

Listened to some of Radio 2 while eating lunch (cold Raviolli from the tin) then cleaned the kitchen, tidied the lounge and dining room and put all the garden furniture away.

Ate a Turkish Delight bar.

Now am sat here, bored, waiting for the rest of the household to come home. Really worth writing about, eh?

Facebook Fan Check Virus?

I'm writing this in the hope that the search engines might pick it up. Just today there has been a rash of Facebook status updates saying: "All those using the FAN CHECK APPLICATION please DELETE it and its PICTURES as it contains a virus and takes 24-48 hours to infect everyone on ur friends list! Please copy 2 ur status 2 let everyone know thanx". After looking into it a little is seems that this is a two-pronged hoax attack.

On the one hand there is the normal hoax/timewaster of getting people to blindly re-post every single mention of a new virus. Quite why people (a) blindly re-post these or (b) start them in the first place is beyond me.

However - there seems to be a second element to this particular hoax - if you Google "Facebook Fan Check Virus" then almost all the results will be sending you to what APPEARS to be anti-virus software or online virus checking web sites. These sites themselves have carry a MUCH higher risk than anything Facebook may currently accidently allow. These sites will warn you that your computer has a virus or trojan and ask you to download a cure. DO NOT DO THIS as you WILL become infected with a trojan.

Stick to anti-virus sites and software you know and trust. NOT those thrown up by random Google searching.

There's a little more info here: http://mashable.com/2009/09/07/facebook-fan-check-virus-hoax/

Current Favourites:

Film: Cashback
Song: 'Soon We'll Be Found' by Sia
Singer: Lucinda Williams
Artist: Marc Quin
Car: Nissan Skyline GT-R34
Food: Kentucky Fried Chicken
Watchmaker: Raymond Weil
Character from The Nine: Katheryn Hale (yum yum)
Sandwich: Roast turkey and pickle
Flower: Tulip
Hair: Red
Pen: Mitsubishi Uni-Pen Fine Line
Book: The Fermata
Radio Station: Radio 2
Website: Facebook
Number: 5
Day of the Week: Sunday
Film Maker: Tim Burton
Drink: Monster Ripper
Toilet Roll: Andrex
Actress: Zooey Deschanel
Chocolate Bar: Galaxy Ripple
Country: UK
Boat: The Savarona
Time of Day: 1am
Shopping Centre: Bluewater
Kids TV Presenter: Anne Foy
Public Holiday: Xmas Day
Social Network: Twitter
4x4: Nissan Pathfinder
Flag: China
Napkin Fold: Fan
Chicken Meat: Breast
Wood: Maple
Instant Messenger: MSN
Bubble Bath: Tesco Kids Rasberry Crush
Takeway: Chinese
Car Colour: Black

My "Freebie"

Watching "My Name is Earl" the other night (damn! I love that show) and the concept of the "Freebie" came up - someone that your wife/husband has agreed that (should it ever be possible) you can sleep with. Normally someone famous.

Well - been married for fifteen years now but I have finally found my freebie: Zooey Deschanel. I first noticed her in "The Happening" (which I also happen to think is a great film) and was struck by her eyes and her voice and now I am sat here listening to "Volume 1" by She & Him (Zooey and some lucky bastard called M Ward) and I know that I am very much in love with Zooey.

Sad, I know.

Strange couple of days

As the end of the school holiday draws near (they go back tomorrow) I am swaying one way and the other regarding this "house-husband" malarky. Am getting to spend some quality internet time and making more and more friends on Twitter and on Facebook and that is good - I think.

Have been keeping on top of the housework (though of course, not to the same high standard as Mrs Brykins does) and the haven't killed, injured or underfed the boys so can't be doing everything wrong. Today I even made stuffed marrows without a recipe. And everyone ate them.

Was nice to find out that I appeared in someone else's dream the other night - shame I can only ever remember Gwyneth Paltrow starring in one of mine. Am sure there have been others but I very rarely remember them.

Today have done final shopping and getting ready for school - everyone has bags packed and uniform laid out, lunches made and shoes polished.

Am now sat all alone as they are all in bed, Mrs Brykins is on another three hour part of her course (two evenings per week in the computer room, then two more evenings each week of homework) and am waiting for Dragons' Den on TV.

That's about my life right now. Anyone wanna (a) swap or (b) employ me?