The AJ Chronicles: 26 July 2024
Problems with my cable TV box; I said yes to a scammer; post-holiday tasks; my son’s car project; things I’ve watched recently; Stephanie’s dad; plus my recent Medium stories
Sections
a. Recent Moments
b. Medium Stories
a. Recent Moments
Problems with my cable TV box 📺
I said yes to a scammer 🤦♂️
Post-holiday tasks 🧳
My son’s car project 🚗
Things I’ve watched recently ▶️
Stephanie’s dad 🏥
1. Problems with my cable TV box 📺
Just before my holiday, my Virgin Media cable TV box stopped working. Once I returned home, I contacted them by phone.
There have been many twists and turns to the story, and I had intended to tell it here. However, it ended up very long, so perhaps I’ll save the details for a separate post.
The short version is that I spent an hour on the phone with them on Monday, four hours waiting for an engineer to arrive on Wednesday, and then two hours in a WhatsApp chat when the engineer did not show up.
I explained the fault to multiple people. The box was stuck in an endless loop and never started up. Despite that, each person I dealt with had me turning it off and on, and waiting while they tried to communicate with the box over their network.
It’s been very frustrating, but today an engineer finally came and replaced the box. He said that’s how the boxes behave when the hard drive fails.
If only the other staff were as helpful as him. At least we had a nice conversation for 30 minutes while he configured the replacement box.
2. I said yes to a scammer 🤦♂️
I’m usually quite security-conscious, but I slipped up this week.
The evening before the cable TV engineer was due, I received a phone call on my mobile. There was no caller ID, so I did not speak. A few seconds later, a man spoke and said my name.
Afterwards, I wondered if it might have been about the cable TV appointment, so when he phoned again and said my name, I confirmed it was me.
Then he said, “This call was for verification purposes. Goodbye.”
What had I done?!
I didn’t like a scammer knowing my name and mobile phone number!
I wondered if they might clone my SIM or port my number to another network, and try to gain access to my bank account.
The following morning, I asked my mobile phone carrier about additional security.
I hoped they could make it harder for someone to obtain a replacement SIM card or port my number to another provider, e.g. by adding a PIN.
Sadly, they had no additional security options and said they already had ‘multi-factor’ security.
(If only my bank used a 2FA app instead of SMS; then I might feel less concerned.)
As if this were not bad enough, I made a change recently that reduced my security slightly.
One of my mobile carrier’s security questions is the last bill amount. Previously, the answer varied each month because I was on a data discount plan. However, my new fixed-price plan means the answer is now the same every month. Once again, my mobile carrier dismissed my security concerns.
I considered changing my phone number, but it would be hard because it’s used in countless places. Therefore, apart from checking my credit report, there seems little else I can do right now.
3. Post-holiday tasks 🧳
It’s taken a while to start getting back to normal after returning home.
My used car came with an upgraded audio system two years ago. I’d have preferred the standard one because it doesn’t sound much better and the subwoofer takes up space. That means removing it to make room for luggage each summer and refitting it after returning home.
On my way home from Wales, my car’s door seal came off. The previous owner had used a pen to hold the two parts together! I got my son to glue it back — without the pen.
Then there was all the laundry! I thought I’d never get to the end of it all!
However, the biggest task may have been going through the photos. This year’s holiday generated 850 vs. last year’s 719. (My fiancée’s daughter has yet to add hers.)
Here is a breakdown of how many photos we each took, with the 2023 figures in brackets:
Me: 568 (557)
Stephanie: 202 (143)
My son: 80 (16)
Last year, I shared about 80 holiday photos on Medium, spread over four stories. I still need to select the ones for this year’s posts, but I’ll get there!
4. My son’s car project 🚗
As mentioned last week, just after I returned home from my holiday, my father-in-law gave my son the money to buy a second car.
The original idea was to get something to fix up and gain experience working on cars. Hopefully, it would be sold for a small profit.
Unfortunately, it all happened without my involvement, partly due to the holiday.
My son’s choice of fixer-upper was a 22-year-old car that can do over 150 mph! It’s way more powerful than anything I’ve ever owned! And not the sort of vehicle an 18-year-old with 6 months of experience should be anywhere near.
He already drives like a maniac in his main car, which has less than 1/3 of the power.
What was my late wife’s dad thinking by enabling that?!
The only thing keeping him safe is the sky-high insurance cost. He simply can’t afford to insure it! Therefore, he’s declared it off-road and will only drive it to garages with pre-booked appointments for repairs he cannot do himself, using temporary insurance cover.
Earlier this week, he enlisted the help of his friend and they spent 12 hours stripping and cleaning the interior at his grandad’s house. (That’s the only place with room for the car.)
One job that’s tricky for him to do without a vehicle lift is to repair the handbrake.
Yesterday, he paid for one hour’s worth of insurance and took it to the garage where he did his work placement. A few days earlier, they’d agreed he could take it there to fix the handbrake. However, when he arrived, they were too busy! So the insurance money was completely wasted.
Today he planned to take it to a fast-fit place for a free brake check. The temporary insurance would have been £80 for an hour because it was short notice!
After we had a chat, he cancelled his plan. He is now contacting a mobile mechanic, recommended by Stephanie’s parents.
5. Things I’ve watched recently ▶️
Technical videos
Recently, Paolo Ferrari on Medium kindly gave me a link to a technical video about the Apollo moon landing computer:
It was amazing to see how sophisticated it was in certain respects, despite lacking the memory and processing power we take for granted today. It also looked complicated for the astronauts to use.
I ended up watching other talks from the website linked in that video, covering the Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, and Acorn Archimedes.
Mag Ruffman
Around 25 years ago, my late wife Jane and I enjoyed watching TV shows such as ‘Anything I Can Do’ and ‘A Repair to Remember’ by Mag Ruffman.
It’s been great to see a few of those old shows again on Mag’s YouTube channel. She has a great sense of humour, especially when things go wrong.
It’s a refreshing change from shows where everything is perfect, and it makes me feel better when DIY jobs don’t quite go to plan for me! It also reminds me of the early days here with Jane.
Frasier
I’ve tried to continue watching Frasier. Unfortunately, all the recordings on my cable TV box were lost when the hard drive failed. That has meant suffering lengthy ads and the tedious log-in process using the Channel 4 app.
6. Stephanie’s dad 🏥
As mentioned last week, my fiancée Stephanie’s dad has serious health problems. While we were away, he had a major operation and remained in intensive care for a while.
We were relieved when the hospital discharged him. Sadly, he has had to return there again. With the NHS at breaking point, he spent the night in a corridor!
I’m hoping he will be well enough to return home again soon.
Thanks for reading
Alan
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b. Medium Stories
🔗 The titles below are links to my recent Medium stories. I’ve included quotes to give you a taste.
Basic Writing Resources and Tips for Medium Stories
July Prompts, Day 24
This is nothing fancy — just a few notes about the practical side of writing on Medium.
AJ’s Answers to Lynn’s July Jubilee Random Questions
Birds, bills, books, transport, pasta, fruit, hobbies, chores, tech, and describing myself using one word — no, not that one!
When I first moved in here 31 years ago, I used to go into town at the weekend and pay bills at the bank. How naive I was to be excited about doing grown-up things!