Upgrade

I had a day off work today. Tuesday, an unusual day for a day off you might wonder, but i had reasons. My cousin, Brian, has just returned from nine months away travelling to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and he's been working as a teacher in Sydney, Australia for the past seven months. He arrived home yesterday afternoon for three weeks. He's looking great on it. So this day off was to coincide with that.

But I was also waiting on a delivery and return of an item. My new MacBook Pro. Having lasted me for five while years i decided it was time to upgrade from my Dell laptop. It's sooooo slow. It takes about 40 minutes to edit one photo in Photoshop. Hence the reason i don't really do much with my camera photos now. Which is a shame because it takes wonderful pictures.

Anyway, the first MacBook was delivered on Friday. On start up i noticed what can only be described as a tear like line on the screen. The was not right. I knew this, however i had a little play about with it and decided to call support on Saturday morning to see what they said. The next morning i waited until 10am and called. After a few tests, mainly me contorting my fingers into some weird shapes with the combination of keys i was being asked to hold down whilst holding the phone to my ear and pressing the power button with my other hand. It was amazing i managed it but eventually it was decided that i'd be sent a replacement device and that one would be returned. Today was the day.

The new one was delivered about 10 30am and i turned it one. No black line on screen, phew! But it wouldn't connect to wifi. After doing the turn off turn on of both the Macbook and my router i called Support again. After 30 minutes of tests and many off and on again sequences he told me i'd have to reboot the operating system. He talked me through the process and said it would take an hour or so, depending on internet speed. This took about seven hours!!! my internet must be really really really slow.

Anyway, about 5.30pm it restarted and lo and behold it still didn't want to connect to wifi. Further searches on the internet (on iPad) i decided to go through the help function and what do you know, within 5 minutes i had connected myself to wifi. I don't know how it happened but it did. Thank goodness. If i'd had to call them again (on an 0844 number by the way!) i was ready for asking for a refund. Honest.

Anyway, i'd saved my iTunes library to an external had drive on Friday night and within half an hour i've loaded all my music onto the Macbook. I'm so pleased that happened without any hitches, touch wood.

I do really really like this laptop. It's easy to type with. I love the sleek design, even the way the power plug and cables fit together. Using something other than Windows is taking a bit of getting used to though. I'll need to memorise all the keyboard shortcuts.

So now, i'll hopefully be blogging more and able to load some cool edited photos of mine that aren't from the iPhone.

And if you've got a Macbook, let me know if there's any cool apps i should get. When i bought it i got a £70 App Store voucher too - bonus!

Angela x

.

Friday Five #2

Number two in the Friday Five series. You remember this from last week, right? Five things that made this week great. Og and we're always on a Friday.

1 - walking in the front door the other night and seeing these...

They just melted my heart. Ryan's first pair of football boots that Santa brought him.

2 - I gained some clarity on a thing (for want of a better word). It had been playing around in my head for a while. Relief, and a slight sense of smugness if i'm honest. Winkey face.

3 - this little blog of mine reached 20,000 views, whatever that means. I read it in the stats section behind the scenes. If you can tell me what that actually means i'd be eternally grateful. Thanks.

4 - got back in to spin classes. For a split second on Wednesday night I was ready to drive home but i never and decided i was gong to do a double class. But sadly the second class was full. Next week though, I'm going for it.

5 - the car had it's MOT on Monday. Two new tyres and two new number plates and it passed. Cost me £218 but hey it could've been worse. I was expecting worse (ever the optimist!).

Angela x

Oh wait, here's a bonus number 6. I got my new iPod delivered through the Apple replacement programme on the first generation iPod Nano's. My wee skinny white Nano was engraved on the back but they sent me a little silver square Nano (current model). It's tiny. X
.

Top Picks from 2011

Since 2011 is over i thought i'd take a loot back and list a few things that i absolutely loved from then. Yes, it's another list and no, i'm not sure how long this list is going to be. And yes, it will be a bit picture heavy too.

So...
* iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4S.
Literally could not live without my phone now. Not for the reason we usually have a phone (to call people) because no one EVER phones me on it. Although i did get a nice surprise phone call the other day from someone who was just about to jet off on holiday. That was particularly nice. No, i use it mostly for the internets. The usual Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Words with fricking Friends. Frankly i could not live without a phone. End of. My trusty 3GS saw me through two years without so much as a slight glitch. The quality of the 4S is more superior and aside from the stupid data usage scandal(!), i actually do LOVE it. That is no exaggeration. I can hear folk groaning at reading this but hey, we all have our things we love don't we.

* Instagram.
I know some folk have only just cottoned on to Instagram [you know the type. The social media luvvies who always seem to be 3 weeks behind on the latest thing! Would you trust anything you read from them?.. No, me neither]. Anyway, some folk have only just cottoned on to the fact that Instagram deserves it's title as App of the year on iTunes (probably the only reason they cottoned on to it). I was an early adopter having posted my first photo on 15th October 2010. And i know this because I got this cool little badge from Statigram (that i run alongside Instagram). It's full of cool stats about your Instagram stream.

What I love about Instagram is that you can see a shot, take the shot, enhance it with a filter if you want and upload the photo and share to the web all within a matter of a few minutes. Seconds even but i'll stick with minutes. The filters are basic and cool, there's enough for now. There's a great community feel. I follow Instagrammers from all over the world. I love seeing photos and lives from the perspectives of these people. It's grand. Take a look.


* blogs.
I've discovered loads of new blogs this year and i'm going to list them below. A list within a list. These have been keeping me entertained all year. Thank you Bloggers!
Vivianna Does Make Up - the clue is in the title. Fab young beauty blogger.
RocknRoll Bride - Kat does a fantastic blog about alternatives to the 'big white wedding' every girl is supposed to dream of. Frankly, id rather my wedding day be like one of those featured here. Fab Fab Fab.
The Daybook - lovely lovely Sidney shows us fashion a shares stories from her life with husband Tyson and new baby Ever. Such a lovely family.
Whatleydude - Whatleydude's happy place. Discovered this one back in April/May time, I think. Love the variety of posts. Some days there's the writings from his Moleskine's. Other days there's three lines of words. Always interesting and sometimes cryptic. But always a joy to read.
Pacing The Panic Room - ok, this is a cheat. I've followed this blog from Ryan Marshall for years. It's so incredibly fabulous i just can't describe it. It's honest and candid and the family are just the cutest. It's the ups and downs and he shares a lot of it right there on the page. He and Cole are also massive Instagrammers too. Hearts.
Miss Smidge - LOVE THIS BLOG. Honest, great writing. Fab recipes. Real stories from the life and times of the writer. Miss Smidge also loves shoes, which makes me happy.

* Elemis skin nourishing body lotion
does exactly what it says on the bottle. I have dry skin all over really, except my tummy, i have a really nice smooth flat tummy. But anyway this lotion sorts my dry patches out and smells lovely and clean. Like a new born baby. It's a bit on the pricey side but i'm on my second bottle from a set i got for Christmas last year and hopefully it'll last until my birthday when i might get another bottle?! someone?

* Converse trainers
Except they're not really training shoes are they. They're the comfiest guttie i've ever worn. My purple 2009 affairs were heading on their way out. The sides have started to split and the purple was feeling a little old so i decided it was time for another pair. A RED pair. I love them. Except i made the mistake of wearing them with new dark indigo and black jeans a few times and now they have that annoying faded mark on them from the colour rubbing. Grrr... Oh well, this means i can buy another pair when we're heading into spring / summer. There's bound to be a nice bright colour i can get.

* Cineworld cinema card
I've now had my card for exactly 1 year and it's been a godsend. I've seen more movies than i ever would have if i didn't have that card. Let's face it, the cinema isn't cheap so £15 a month isn't too bad. If you go to 3 movies per month you're already saving money. Oh and i only did popcorn once. Never again. it was like eating the most tasteless balls of rolled up cardboard, and that was the sweet flavoured one too. No, my munchies of choice were salt and vinegar crisps and a bag of sliced apple. Oh and a wee bottle of Irn Bru of course. Anyway, i'd recommend the card if you can afford it and like going to the cinema. Some favourite films were The Hangover Part II, Drive, Blue Valentine and 50/50. Not sure if i want to see The Iron Lady though....

* nail polish
I was never ever really into nail polish. You'd never catch me wearing scarlet red nails... until this year. In particular, the summer gone. I suddenly become more than just a pale Rimmel French ivory girl and ventured into yellow Mimosa from Chanel, bright pink strawberry margarita from OPI and even Rainbow collection glitter top coat too.

It's fun and certainly can brighten up your day when you've got nice nails. It depends what mood i'm in too. Some days i'm all about the nudes, others the reds and lately i've even headed towards the nearly blacks. Brave of me. But i'm not buying any more. I bought some more from a great eBay shop (US) which sells all the top brands (OPI, Essie, China Glaze) much cheaper and they were delivered within a week. They're at least 50% cheaper than here and that includes delivery. Pretty good but i have to stop. As you can see there's not many colours i don't have. Oops.

Anyway that's all for now i think folks. What were your top picks from 2011?

Angela x

.

Nothing

Here I am sitting in the couch typing away on the replacement ipad2. It arrived yesterday at work. All very quick since I only called about the scratched one on Wednesday night. Nice. Pleased with this one but still a little disappointed that the screen isn't as clear as the iPhone. Oh well, can't have it all. Today I'm going to try to blitz the Christmas shopping. Off to Glasgoe in a bit and I'll probably buy some stuff for myself from mum and dad. The routine is the same each year. No real surprises. She practically has an internal list of stuff she gets me. Like perfume for instance, even though I said no don't buy me Eternity, I just bought myself a new bottle a month ago and it'll last me a while. But no she bought it. I know this cos she told me. Like I said, no surprises. I'm not that keen on surprises to be honest but I'd just like to be a ke to get a present that they've thought about what interests me without me actually having to give directions to the shop!! Anyway I sound ungrateful, I'm not. I appreciate everything, hence the reason I buy myself all the big items, iPhone, iPad...I'd never ask my parents to buy me something that expensive. Pensioners now you know. This is really a nothing post. A post because I have a few things to say and don't know how to say them. What I have to say isn't what's written in this post. I'll probably write it later and then leave it sitting in the drafts for til god knows when. Maybe it'll be published maybe it won't. Sometimes it's just in the writing isn't it... But i'll leave you with this thought. When you come into someone's life, you consume them, they consume you, that means something right? Then you leave, drop them like a hot tattie, imagine that....for a second...dropped, just like that. You've drawn them in, they're in, then you go... How do you like them apples? Angela x .

December Begins

Here we are! Welcome to December. It's going to be great!! This is the first of my post every day in December posts.

I'm sitting here on my bed typing away at this post on my new iPad. Yes. I took the plunge and treated myself to an early Christmas present for me. Only trouble is, it's being collected tomorrow by a courier as the metal back panel has visible signs of wear and tear. Little scratches and marks. They're only little ones but still, I pad for a brand new iPad and this looks to me like a refurbished one. Disappointing. Give them their due though, at a quick call to Apple, and a chat with a nice young man all the way over in Austin, Texas, my new one is already on its way. Phew!! I've been playing about with it since Tuesday night and it's good but.... Yes, there is a but... I think the screen on my iPhone 4S is a lot better. Clearer. Sharper. Did you all know this? I mean it is handy. I will be keeping it but the screen clarity is very noticeable, to me anyway.

Anyhow, December. Wahey! It's come around so quickly hasn't it. For the first time in a few years I am rally looking forward to December and all that it's going to bring me. I don't me presents. I mean fun, days out, time spent with great people, laughs, tinsel, twinkling lights and a HOT CHOCOLATE! Who wants to meet for a catch up and a hot chocolate? Say Aye!

what are you looking forward to in december? Spill the beans...

Angela xx
.

O2, Apple and The Continuing High Data Usage Scandal

Ok, I know you don't care that much and it's only a scandal to me, but still...

If you follow me on Twitter you'll notice that lately i've been less than happy with the amount of data my new iPhone 4S appears to be using. For the past 2 years I was on an unlimited data contract with O2 (who, by the way i've been with since the very early days - previously pay as you go). Mobile companies got wise to the fact that they'd missed a trick and could/should be charging for data or at least cap it. And so most introduced different rates or levels depending on what you needed. 100MB, 500MB or 1GB per month. Now i've read a few tech blogs and most say that an average person won't need more than 500MB per month so that's which option I went for this time. Only it didn't quite work out like that. I got my new phone on 14 October and by the 5 November I had used 80% of my data allowance. What?!! That can't be right surely. I called O2 and spoke to a girl with a distinctly northern accent, i can't quite place it though. She preceeded to tell me that the data usage was in fact correct(!) and that I could purchase more data if i wanted(!), that her friend had a new iPhone 4S too but she swapped it for a Samsung Galaxy thing because and i quote "the 4S updates every night and uses all your data. She was using too much data too so she swapped. I wouldn't have gotten a 4S if i were you" (!!!!!) I just hoped that O2 were indeed recording this call for training purposes as that wasn't a very professional thing to say, was it?

Anyway I let her ramble on. Asking me if i was streaming YouTube videos or tvprogrammes (WT actual F?!) Of course not. I have a laptop and a tv for that. Was I using it any more than normal? NO! Did I have location services turned on? YES. Turn them off then. What is the actual point of having a smart phone if you have to turn off most of the services you bought it for in the first place? It was a frustrating conversation and I left with no answer to my original question - why were my data usage stats to high? Surely I can't be in that top 2% (or whatever the latest infographic shows) who have a higher data usage. Surely?!! She suggested i go to an Apple store or...wait for this... go to an O2 shop to speak to a GURU! (as when i asked if there was a tehcnical helpline she said no, they just deal with billing enquiries etc on the phone). NOTE: later whilst browsing the O2 website buying an extra 100MB data bolt on i saw they also have a Bolt On for monthly technical help, it'll cost you £7.50 though! I mean WT actual F two??

Anyway not satisfied with that i went on the phone to Apple. The guy talked me through all my settings and suggested that i turn off Cellular Data Network. I do that at home now but what if i'm out and about? I won't get the internet if i'm walking down a high street. "No you won't" so again, what is the actual point of a smart phone if you cannot do this?! These people were missing the point... Anyway, the Apple guy emailed me a copy of the user guide and made sure my settings were all turned on / off in the right combination. I'd try this out to see if the data usage went down.

Three days later (yes, only 3 days after the original 80% data text from O2), I got one to say I'd run out and that i could follow a link to buy more. I was seathing at this point. I phoned them again and caused great hilarity in the office at the lack understanding at the question I was asking O2 (yes, I was on the phone to them again). We went around the houses. I was still using too much data, according to them. Yes, but there must be a reason for it? I don't get more than 15 emails per day MAX, I never use it for YouTube. I only downlaod songs or apps at home on a Wifi signal. All I really use it for is Twitter, Facebook and Words With Friends. That'll be it then, she said. WTF?! At this piont i am losing patience. That night i go home and check my bills for the past two years. Maybe i am a large volume user? Maybe i am in the top 2%? I'd never actually checked my data usage since it was always unlimited, have you?... I sat down, logged in and started going through my bills... Previous bill prior to getting 4S circa 175MB for the month. Next one - 380MB. One before that 250MB. I scrolled back and back and back and the only bill i found that had me anywhere close to 500MB was from April 2011, which coincided with my trip to London. I was out and about wandering without wifi so of course the data usage was higher but still not above 500MB. SURELY THERE IS SOMETHING NOT RIGHT HERE??

I made an appointmewnt with an Apple Genius. In the meantime i searched all the forums online and it seems this is a common problem. And the solutions appear to be the phone companies blaming Apple and Apple blaming the phone companies. I don't care who's fault it is i just want it sorted. I don't want to have to be buying extra data each month! Oh and also, Appled released the new version of iOS which was meant to help the battery life. Since my 3GS days i've always got a day's use out of my battery. Not a full day mind you but if i charge it at night use it all day, i don't need to charge until about 8pm. This was the same for my 4S, which is meant to have a better battery(!). Anyway i installed the new version and that night the phone was on standby and had only dropped about 2% during the night. Before it would've been about 15% drop. However it seems that this hasn't fixed the battery problem, which i'm not sure I have anyway. I'll await a next release. The high data usage is a much bigger concern to me.

So the Apple Genius was nice and again checked all my settings to make sure I had it set properly and he said that O2 must be charging me for using data that I'm not. I told him what the 3 different people on the phone have said and he said "yeah they would say that". He said to monitor it and if it was still overly high then i should go back. Frankly I'm fed up with the whole saga. My new allowance began yesterday and according to my bill i've used circa 800MB of data in the first month of having an iPhone 4S. It means i'll probably have to up my bolt on to the £10 (1GB) per month extra instead of £6 (500MB). Now you might think that this is a whole lot of palavar for just an extra £4 per month, but it's the principal of the thing. How come before I wasn't using anywhere near 500MB per month but now with the new phone I am? In my head there's a dodgy deal been done between the phone companies and Apple. We'll make it use data, you can start charging! or something like that *wink*.

Whatever it is, it's certainly not making for a good experience. More and more i'm hearing stories of high data usage being recorded, which weren't there before. I mean in theory i should be able to read half a million emails on 500MB.

Anyway... It's a shame as before this i'd never ever had a bad word to say about O2. And I absolutely love the phone. It keeps me connected. And the girl who quipped about how i should've got a Samsung Galaxy can run to the hills!! So that's it. My story. I had to get it out there. I can now put it to bed and succumb to the grip that O2 has on me and pay that extra £4 per month for data. You could say i'm playing right into their hands.

Angela x

Cheeky wee day off

I'm really lacking inspiration just now to know what to write in this here little blog.  I sent out a tweet on Twitter asking for inspiration and someone (@oneandonlycarly ) suggested I write about my day because she liked reading about people's days.  So that's what i'm going to do.

Wee Bri (my big wee cousin Brian), anyway Wee Bri phoned on Sunday to tell me his iPhone had broken again.  He'd called up Apple customer services and was told to take the phone to the shop on Wednesday and he'd get it replaced.  So he asked if i wanted to come along.  I said yes and booked the day off when i went into work on Monday.

We set off at 9.30.  He drove us to Larbert where we parked the car and jumped on the train.  We chatted about stuff, you know, family, friends and that, and arrived in Glasgow just after 10.30am.   His appointment at the Apple store wasn't until 11.10 so we mosied down Buchanan Street and headed in to All Saints so I could ogle the clothes.

A quick stop at Starbucks and we headed into Apple and upstairs to the Genius Bar.  Genius!  We waited a little as all the stools were taken at the actual 'bar' and then a girl came across with her iPad and checked Brian 'in' then we were told it'd be another 5 minutes or so.  This was fine as we were to busy watching a guy lead to ladies up the glass staircase, 2 iPad boxes held firmly in the arms, and over to the accessories section where he proceeded to sell them 2 cases for the aforementioned iPads.  Then it was all the way down the back where they were asking all manner of questions and I think (but can't be sure) that he sold them a printer too!!  Next time I turned around one of the ladies was eyeing up a shiny iMac too!  Anyway whilst we were there, in the Apple store for a little over 20 minutes, I counted about 6 iPads being sold with all manner of accessories to go along with them.  Then at the Genius bar, the Geniuses (Genii ?) basically swapped old for new on about 5 iPhones.  People definitely do like Apple products.  I resisted against an iPhone for so long but I'm not one of those I HATE ALL APPLE PRODUCTS people, it was simply that I thought I couldn't afford it.  Then i started topping up my Nokia pay as you go affair with up to £40 a month as the Internet usage was costing a bomb and figured it was easier and cheaper to get an iPhone - obvious really!  Now i have to admit that i probably couldn't change and use anything else.  I just love my iPhone!  There, I said it.

Brian's turn came around and he explained to the guy what happened with the phone, it was plugged into a Macbook and after a few minutes the guy realised it just wasn't going to switch on.  so off he popped to what i can only imagine to be a treasure trove of goodies through the back somewhere down dimly lit corridors only accessed buy a secret code and sliding door, kinda like Indiana Jones, and within a minute he was back with a new iPhone.  Just like that.  Simples.  He plugged it in, activated it, inserted Brian's sim and we were cooking with gas and the new iPhone, all within a 20 minute adventure in the Apple store.

The guy who served us was really pleasant and chatty.  (Is this because he is pleasant and chatty or do they learn that in training?).  I don't know but every time I've been in i haven't felt like i used to feel when i thought i couldn't enter all the trendy shops for fear of sticking out like a sore thumb where i might as well have had a sign above my head saying 'I'm just here browsing because there's no way I can afford to buy any of your products'.  You know the kind of shops I mean?  Designer clothes stores usually.  Where the assistants are plastered in fake tan, fake hair, fake nails earn about £5k less per year than you and yet somehow they make you feel like shit because you aren't wearing the 'right' clothes.  That's how I used to feel when i was younger, when my sister shopped in Cruise [insert your own designer shop name here].  Anyway, I digress, back to Apple, lovely Apple, lovely people in the Apple store.  I did spy the nice Mr Craig Z but he was busy beavering away at the Genius Bar for the MacBooks I didn't like to disturb him.   

Everyone was happy, except me who is still trying to make the awful life-changing decision of whether or not to take the Early Upgrade Offer from O2 and upgrade to the shiny new iPhone4.  These are the decisions that matter, aren't they.

Anyway after all that excitement we headed up to The Butterfly and Pig on Bath Street for a very tasty lunch of burgers.  It was lovely in that wee place.  Quite quirky with nothing that matched and a strange but funnily written menu.  Yum yum I would definitely recommend it.  It was a choice between that or the new Jamie Oliver Italian on George Square but not being an Italian food aficionado we opted for the safer place.  Although on a walk down there to see what it was all about, i realise we should have gone in.  But that'll be for another time.  Anyone wanna come to Jamie's place with me??!!

And now I'm throwing it over to you.  What have you done on cheeky little days off work?

Ange xx