grendel

the point is, other than paying for things I have absolutely no use for a smart phone, all my needs are covered elsewhere, in a much more secure manner. making people reliant upon the latest tech is effectively controlling them. If I did have a smart phone, I would still not be using it for banking or payments, as i dont believe that is as secure as carrying cash and a bank card (its a trust thing, I dont trust the phone companies with my data- no matter how secure they tell me it is), if you lose a smartphone- you have lost your 'life' and cannot accomplish anything. So I will stick with my dumb phone that makes phone calls and does simple texts, thank you very much.

I do have a tablet, however its not got a sim, so only works when I am within range of my internet (or wifi dongle) the tablet is the main reason I dont have a smart phone as I find that a smartphone has too small a screen to read, the buttons are too small to press, and its economically unviable for the few uses I do have for a phone, I have PAYG and generally top up £10 every 3 or 4 months, I have no need for a smartphone on contract, the main reason I have a phone at all is to use every day for MFA verification when I log in to work (you ought to see the fuss it caused when work said it was compulsory to use an app for this- they did backtrack quite quickly when I asked if they would provide a company phone for this purpose (I am in the one role where a company phone is not provided automatically). so it suits me fine to be considered a technical luddite without a smart phone.

Robin, while you dont carry cash, I dont carry a smart phone, I am already struggling parking the car, due to car parks assuming everyone has a smartphone, yet I always have a handful of cash on me, my parents have an old fashioned mobile phone, they dont even have the internet. and its my guess that there are quite a few people who would struggle should everything go digital. a few years ago I was sitting a test for a construction pass, in that field there are more than a few digitally challenged people who do a great job, out of the 20 candidates on the test, there must have been at least 3 who had absolutely no idea how to use a computer mouse. its not safe to assume that everyone can cope with technology, or has it available.

and its no wonder that I only have a low tech calls and text phone (which is apparently not capable of receiving these alarms) I will enjoy my day without peace being shattered.

yes the woodies are somewhat warmer, I have encountered sub zero temperatures while aboard Water Rail, (with no heating) and been comfortable in my sleeping bag, the wood is a slower thermal conductor than fibreglass, so the cold doesnt get through as easily, that aside Marthams boats do have heating, and can be lovely and comfortable (plus you get to enjoy driving an old woodie round the broads, with the added bonus of a cruise above that bridge (i used to do both the first and last day at least part of above the bridge with the last night moored up at deep dyke or white slea.)

Nooo, I have way too many projects already.

you can almost see their itinerary, horning staithe, just one or two mooring spots, all the other spots by the pubs paid for (the swan, ferry inn and new inn), mudweightig at salhouse (where the party boat does a turn around the broad) still as said its all about expectations, a cruise in the med its not, its more about peace solitude and watching the wildlife, and yes that means you get to put up with the party boat, and if thats not what you wanted from a holiday, then you are bound to be disappointed. my first trip on the broads i fell in love with the place - my ex, on the other hand hated it, not everyone will feel the same as we do about the place, the reason we joined the forum is that we enjoy the broads, so from our perspective we dont quite understand the negative reviews, newcomers probably dont realise the age of some of the boats, and that must surprise some.

it was the last question on naming the planets that got me 3 points that made the difference.

well I managed to win the tiebreak question so winning the quiz with 18 points, this leaves me in the position of having to think up some questions for next friday. I will let you know when I have some.

maybe being done by the same team that was doing neatishead, and they are running late on their next job.

hmm streetview shows signs, that say 2 hours, no return within 3 hours, but it seems the car park is operated by euro car parks

it seems the parking is run by euro car parks, who list the charges below, I think that customers get so much free parking (up to 3 hours)

clearly states 31 days maximum, maybe if you pay by ringgo they flags that its ok to morrisons, as all the signs say 3 hours limit. thanks everyone for the research though

I suppose we ought to consider their mode of transport, are they arriving by car, or train, if train, then pickup at wroxham would be easier, while car gives more options.

I was wondering whether any locals could advise, as I will probably be needing to park the car at Beccles for a week or more at a time, whether any of the local car parks dont have time limits, so far I have found that you can book up to 31 days at morrisons car park through the Ringgo app for 31 days at £40, but a lot of the other car parks either dont have details or have shorter times? i realise there are other apps available, but its not so easy when you dont have a smart phone and have to rely on using a tablet on a wifi hotspot to use the app. so int the spirit of being prepared, i am trying to find out if there is long term parking elsewhere in Beccles.

this is where I find a midships cleat handy, i reach over and loop it round a bollard, and back to the boat, then assured the boat is going nowhere I will sort out my springs before loosening the midships line. finally when all secure I shut off the engine.

surely you mean overly refreshed

Spartacus

by far my worst yet was while I was as usual solo helming, pulled up alongside the mooring going into the tide, stepped off with bow and stern ropes, started fixing the bow rope when I noticed the stern drifting out into the river (as If I had moored with the tide) then not managing to get a rhond anchor in ( as the wind had now taken the boat away from the bank) at about the time I had figured that the boat wasnt responding to my pulling either, I decided to leave the rope and made a jump for the bow, scrambled aboard and was now drifting sideways downstream with boats heading toward me. got it back n gear and approached the mooring facing the other way around and proceeded to try again, this time sucessfully, luckily nobody was watching this debacle, and luckily I made the bow of the boat when I jumped and managed to scramble aboard. we have all done it.

I would suggest a look at the broads act section 17 subsection 8B where it states what navigation money can be spent on (maintaining the navigation and moorings) https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/4/section/17 also note what navigation income says below that.

Of course if they try and get retribution in other ways it will be reported here for all to see, which I am sure is not what they want to do as they then have to justify their actions.

at the very least in order to prosecute they first have to publicly justify the charge

if its any consolation, if i post pictures from my tablet one is always blanked on one side, the answer is to delete it and reload the picture, then it will be fine. you get about 10 minutes to edit a post after posting.

I had an issue with my doctors, recently they upped one of my medications, well naturally on the higher dose i ran out of tablets early, so i filled in the form online for a repeat, and it came back- refused, naturally I phoned the surgery, to be told it was refused because it was too soon after a previous prescription, i mentioned that was because they had doubled the dose, so i left it with them, next day i was completely out of tablets, online still showed as refused, so I went to the pharmacy, where they presented me with 2 prescriptions, one dated back to eearly march when they upped my dose, they had sent the prescription to the pharmacy, but didnt consider that telling me might be a good idea so I knew it was there.

Loddon and Rockland are the 2 places that I have difficulty, ok at high tide, but at low tide you drop below the signal, a long pole helps (one of my dongles has external antenna and getting this high up helps at these locations