TEARS IN MY EYES

My Trade Me auction for a Spode dinnerset was passed in .

It did have over 800 'views' but only one 'watcher'. 

It's a sad fact of life that nowadays 'good stuff' is largely unwanted or people don't want to pay sensible prices for quality, preferring to buy cheap shit on special at Briscoes or The Warehouse.

Ageing baby boomers, who I'm part of, are dying off and leaving their long-held treasures behind. Most often the younger members of the family don't want this stuff or have no room to store or display it in their modern houses and flats. The charity and junk shops are choc-a-bloc with lovely paintings, glassware, ornaments and classic china dinnerware. Sad really.

Before I listed on Trade Me I asked the owner of the multiple shops at Thorndon Antiques if he had any interest in the set. He almost broke down and tears came into his eyes as he told me that he had no room in his shops for ceramics and dinnerware and that people weren't buying quality stuff anymore.

What to do? I guess I will have to donate it to charity.

NEW POST - THE CURMUDGEONLY INVENTOR

 

DON'T SPIT THE DUMMY

FAKE NEWS

 The orange idiot continues to blather about 'fake news' on anything that doesn't fit his lying narrative or anything which is critical of him.

Today I watched a (real) news report about the Trump administration issuing subpoenas against New York Times journalists over their reporting on the new Air Force One presidential airplane. They have been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury after a story detailed security concerns with the Qatar-gifted plane that Trump flew to Turkey on.

The airplane at the center of the Times report was provided by Qatar as a $400m gift. It took Donald Trump to the Nato summit in Turkey. Trump however then flew part of the way back to the US on an older-model Air Force One presidential airplane. That happened amid the collapse of the ceasefire with Iran, which shares a border with Turkey and which caused concern for Trump's safety and speculation that the  Qatari-gifted jet lacked certain security systems. The Times reported on these concerns and that Trump flew some of the return trip from Turkey on an older Air Force One that is equipped with special security features at the request of the Secret Service.

Trump subsequently denied any security concerns, telling reporters who were accompanying him that no safeguard-related worries factored into the decision to fly only part of the way home in the new Air Force One.

Of course Trump and his cronies deny this and make out that it is fake news.

This is becoming par for the course with this guy and his gang but it's especially galling that he claims he invented the term and concept of 'fake news (see above). 

While in no way claiming that I invented 'fake news' The Curmudgeon has from day one used this form of communication in this very blog. Careful readers will have seen, on the home page this notice:

They will also have read on numerous occasions my assertion that The Curmudgeon never lets the truth get in the way of a good story - an aphorism often attributed to Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) but that is disputed. I'll claim it then.

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

SHOO OFF!

 I'm going to moan about something now so, if you don't like it you can shoo off and, on your way, look up the meaning of curmudgeon. Look, I'll help you:

You might remember that in previous posts I wrote about the trouble I had with a pair of hiking boots that were not a good fit for me. I gave these away to Robert.

I later purchased some Salomon hiking shoes which I wrote about:

It's turned out that these are hurting my toes and are not what was advertised - WIDE FITTING.

It looks like I cannot get a refund so I wrote a scathing review on Salomons' web page and on a hiking web page. While doing so I noticed that I'm not the only one who has had problems with these hiking shoes not being fit for purpose. See:

I guess I'll be using my Sketchers 'old man slipper' type shoes instead on the Kakadu day hike. While not robust at least they'll be comfortable.

NEW POST - THE WINE GUY

 

SEMPER AD MELIORA

THE LOW SPARK OF ...

 It's a dreary and cold day today with a strong chance of rain so I'm not expecting much news from the blogs.

Robert (or his AI friends) however, wrote a bleak post that's fitting with the weather or in keeping with ancient stoicism or early Christian martyrdom - that I guess continues his religious theme.

I'm not sure what Richard will be doing other than fiddling about with his old instruments. Maybe he'll go and get a haircut.

"I got a haircut today"

I cannot get emails on my ipad or my iPhone so will visit a Spark store today to try and get it sorted. The problem started last week when a message from Spark (received on this computer which is now the only way I can communicate) told me that they had switched over to 4G technology and older 3G and 2G compatible devices would no longer receive emails. As I pay a lot of money to Spark for my mobile (our broadband account is with One NZ) I want them to sort it out. The phone is near new so I don't know why that isn't operating properly but the iPad is old generation so no doubt I'll have to buy a new one - certainly before we go to Australia next month.

Sure Robert, I know that I should be able to receive emails on the ipad using Broadband but it isn't happening. I need Spark to explain themselves.

NO NEWS TODAY

 

I've been very busy doing other things.

You'll find the 'junk mail' in Richards various comments.

ENCORE

I received a message from SPARK my phone and email provider, telling me that I was unable to receive emails on my iPad because it was old technology and not 4G compliant.

SPARK has, like other providers moved from 3G technology to 4G and 5G whatever that means.

I've checked it out and sure enough my iPad that I bought 4 years ago is a 9th generation one. 4G + can only operate on a minimum of 10th generation so I'm stuffed.

My phone which I bought brand new last year is an iPhone 16 and apparently (for the moment) is compliant.

The laptop I use is an Apple Air 2020 model so no doubt the cartels that collude between hardware and connectivity will be junking this soon. At the moment I can get my emails on it but I'm not holding my breath.

I'm tired of this planned obsolescence in technology with 'improvements' that I don't use rendering the equipment I own to be out of date soon after I buy it.

I checked and there is no upgrade possible on the iPad to move from 2G and 3G capability to 4G and 5G. The helpful suggestion was to buy a new one!

I like my iPad and use it a lot when in bed, in the bath, in another room away from the study, when travelling or out and about. I can catch up with news, read the blogs, read e-books and of course access and read and send my emails. I much prefer using this than a phone as it's easier to read and to write on it. I'm going to have to buy a new one. I think the latest is generation 11 but Murphy's Law dictates that as soon as I buy one, the next day the new generation will roll over to 12.

The best deal on a new model, the basic one, is $879. I'll put my case to The Old Girl.

"HEY GIRLS, GATHER ROUND ...

... Listen to what I'm putting down
Hey baby, I'm your handyman"

My new Swanndri overalls arrived by post today.

I bought them in the on-line 50% off sale and boy, am I happy with them. They are made from quality material and to a good design - much better than the ones I used to have up north.

I modelled them for The Old Girl but she just laughed for some reason and asked why I bought them as I'm not a handyman. Cheek!

I think that I'll wear them to Richard's place on Saturday to make him and Robert jealous.

LET'S TRY THE QUIZ AGAIN

 That latest quiz went down like a lead balloon but I think, after reading the contributor comments, I understand the problem. It was too highbrow. What the readers want apparently is unoriginality, simplicity, easiness and the quiz questions to be in picture format - child's play if you will.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

See how you go. Good luck!