Le weekend in Paris

As I write this I'm thinking that a week ago Carol and I were walking down the Champs Elysee on a fine spring day - now a week later, it's looking quite dodgy weather back in the UK.

Paris was great though and with a little more time to see the sights than when we last visited (about 20+ years ago) it was a much better experience. Enjoyed all of the Touristy things like the Eifell tower and the Louvre, but the other great thing was just to wander around the city which was looking particularly clean and tidy. I took some pictures (of course) and had the chance to properly try out my new wide angle lens. It gives some interesting shots (link to follow) and I'm really pleased with it. I think Carol enjoyed it and it gave her a much needed respite from the trials of the last few weeks. She came back refreshed to continue with her Management report which is due for the 5th June.

The Broadband is now settled but during the week it's been awful. The connection kept dropping out during Tuesday & Wednesday with very poor connection speeds - strangely this seemed to coincide with a complete loss of service for our neighbours on Broadband. Spoke to the ISP and BT and a nice lady at BT seems to have sorted it out.

I'm in Prague for a few days next week not sure if it's 3 or 4 days yet but certainly back before the weekend which is good as it's a Bank Holiday. Won't be going anywhere as Carol will be busy but we have a few things planned after including a Mary Black Concert on the 2nd June and the Eagles on the 14th. Probably take another shopping trip to London one of the weekends soon before Carol's birthday.

Got a new (works) toy it's a Blackberry 7100v and it's pretty smart. Better than my previous Blackberry it's a phone that recieves emails rather than the previous one that seemed to be designed the other way around. Need to get a charger and sort out my hands free connection for the car - Don't like making phone calls without the handsfree kit now.

A flat screen telly is still on the agenda but I am waiting for the new crop of sets from Sony in particular the X Series which is supposed to be the Dogs Danglies.

Broadband Woes

I never thought that two pieces of wire could cause so much trouble but they have. It started a few weeks ago when I noticed that I was getting a very poor conncection speed on my extension socket and this may be having a detrimental affect on my broadband transfer rates. Well its much better now but not after a lot of messing around with rewiring and new sockets and the like.

My DAB radio is sick at the moment and may even be terminal - it's away being evaluated to see if it really does have the fault I have complained about and I will probably end up having a refund. I have taken a quick look at the alternatives and this one is favourite at the moment the Evoke 2 xt from Pure. As the BT Aviator was particulary well specced it meant I now have a good idea of what I want out of a radio - one of the most important features being an alarm clock! So depending upon the outcome this may be my next purchase.

The weather is better now and I was hoping to get out and sail this weekend but the club boat is still being repaired - probably from the last time we borrowed it. As we are in Paris next weekend then it will be the week after before I can hopefully set sail.

Carol gets part of her life back on Monday with her 2nd and final exam (Law) on Monday 8th May. Then its just a small matter of writing an 8000 word dissertation that needs to be in handed in by the first week in June. Then it's Party time!!! She has my full sympathy and admiration for doing this - it brings back painful memories of my final year of my degree - 10 years ago this year.

Next few weeks are likely to be busy at work particularly w/c 22nd May when I go to Prague for 4 days. We have decided that we need to get some quality camping in this year and will be making plans shortly to make this happen.