Things I do like

[Lenny]

21 hours ago, martyntdci said:

Would you like some video clips 😂 p

Video clip Of your version of events within the movie

Or 

The actual footage? 

[zain611]

22 hours ago, dezwez said:

that's the worse part of it not being able to do anything oh well 😐

I think the worst thing for me is doing a biomedical science degree which looks into health sciences and having some background knowledge about the case. Normally when a tumour has metastasised (spread from place of origin) its worse. Can't remember if it's deadly or is guaranteed to cause death but hopefully it ain't.

@martyntdci the thing which makes me believe in there being a god is some of the coincidences I've had. The one I remember the most is when I finished reading the whole Holy book and the day after the girl I had a crush on started showing signs. I remember going to weekend classes to read it and I'd be still reading it during break just so I had read a decent amount of pages 🤣. Sadly don't see her now since we both go to different unis but I've noticed myself the type of girls I like are the ones that have strict parents who tell them to not have boyfriends. Just from that I don't think I'm at the age to look at anyone plus I don't want to stress and get depressed over someone 

[TimST2]

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[martyntdci]

4 hours ago, Lenny said:

Video clip Of your version of events within the movie

Or 

The actual footage? 

I can do both if you wish. Something tells me the original clips will be some what better 😂 

[martyntdci]

5 hours ago, zain611 said:

I think the worst thing for me is doing a biomedical science degree which looks into health sciences and having some background knowledge about the case. Normally when a tumour has metastasised (spread from place of origin) its worse. Can't remember if it's deadly or is guaranteed to cause death but hopefully it ain't.

@martyntdci the thing which makes me believe in there being a god is some of the coincidences I've had. The one I remember the most is when I finished reading the whole Holy book and the day after the girl I had a crush on started showing signs. I remember going to weekend classes to read it and I'd be still reading it during break just so I had read a decent amount of pages 🤣. Sadly don't see her now since we both go to different unis but I've noticed myself the type of girls I like are the ones that have strict parents who tell them to not have boyfriends. Just from that I don't think I'm at the age to look at anyone plus I don't want to stress and get depressed over someone 

Stressed and depressed are just little things.  Money should be your major worry lol.  My misses has over 3/4 of wages every 2 weeks. I just have enough for my essential direct debits ie home insurance, car insurance, etc.. I have to ask if I need any more. If your not ready then time will let you know when, and the right lady you will find 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

22 hours ago, zain611 said:

 

@martyntdci the thing which makes me believe in there being a god is some of the coincidences I've had.🤣

I seem to remember Al Murray making a very convincing case that the existence of bacon proves that there is a god?😀

[Lenny]

I've intended to post this one on my 290km journey home from my mother's on Sunday night as the wife was driving;

but she was talking the entire way and I couldn't compose correctly, I also didn't want my wife to get drowsy as I was quite willing to drive myself but she doesn't like sitting with me on motorway 😅 

I then intended on writing it yesterday but I was too exhausted from the busy and sometimes stressful two days I had in my mother's.

So without further adieu; 

I do like taking a Saturday off from the usual six day week of work routine to travel up to my mother with a few gifts for the house to make her life easier by eliminating methods which she has difficulty completing,

My mother is 69 this year,

She lives alone and has a plate for an ankle bone since 1994, had breast cancer and colon cancer, as result of scar tissue within the colon; is on a liquid diet for life now, 

I phone once or twice per week and visit around three or four times per year due to my busy schedule with work and financially keeping my own family,

We went up to visit between Christmas and New year; 

She's bad on the feet as the left foot can't bend, and her right hand is now starting to stiffen up with arthritis,

The foot is a long term issue but the arthritis in the hand is/was really depressing her because she can't turn on a normal tap, or pull out segments on the heating time clock, She's also afraid of dropping the kettle when making tea, The left hand doesn't have much strength as the breast cancer had an affect on her arm,

She started turning the heating time clock wheel to get the heat to come on but that then changed the time; resulting in the heating coming on at random hours costing money when not required.

All background story said now; I went home and had a think about how I could improve things and reduce her depression without medication; she wakes up happy but through the course of the day; becomes depressed from the little disability reminders. 

My dad agreed to change to kitchen taps to ones with tabs which turn 90 degree was a great help, 

I started saving some money as soon as I went home after Christmas and put off a bill or two until feburary which enabled me to purchase a few items to make her life easier, 

I began to shop around online and across the weeks of January pieced together everything with the intention of fitting in all in a single visit, 

I then took last Saturday off work and went up to install everything, I was wrecked yesterday because I only slept from 1am Sunday to 6am Sunday due to getting everything done in the time frame aswell as talking her through some things.

She wanted her living room television on the wall after seeing ours done like that, so I agreed to do it as a late Christmas present, 

So I had some 75x50 PVC trunking left over from the attic, I took a chip of wall paint from her living room at Christmas and bought a matching sample pot from B&Q, ordered some 4 metre HDMI cables and a six socket power strip, 

I then purchased a mechanical oil level gauge which is around 3" inches in size of the gauge, no batteries or dodgy radar it's float sits on top of the oil for accuracy without maintenance https://purchase.ie/product/energy-saving/oil-tank-gauge-3 makes it easier for her to budget knowing what's in the kerosene tank.

I then went to Currys and picked up a Brevelle instant hot water kettle, it has a volume control to suit cup size, just push button and it passively heats the water when it comes through, no lifting excess weight and no hot water in the resivour only what's inside the cup, 

She can fill the resivour using a cup or small jug eliminating the need to lift a kettle or risk of dropping the kettle.

She was delighted with that, 

Moving on from this; she's paying for broadband service as part of her home phone and tv package; but she doesn't know how to use a computer or anything like that she doesn't have a smart phone just a simple Nokia, 

As result she couldn't use a wifi socket on a smart phone to switch on a light in the living room, 

But there was another way; I done some research online aswell as communicating with some helpful people on here to discover I could use my smartphone to initialize an amazon Echo Plus which she can then use completely independently of any other devices to switch on and off things using her voice, it would also be a source of online information, since she's already paying for broadband.

So I dug deep and bought an amazon Echo plus, a Hive Active Heating Control kit, a Philips hue bulb and an amazon Wi-Fi Socket, 

She can add more wifi sockets later out of her own investment but I covered all items which I provided to get the ball rolling, 

If it all worked and understood her northern accent then it was a good investment, 

Alternativly if it didn't understand her accent then at least we tried and she wasn't out of pocket either way.

So I started with the television mounting and got that done Saturday day, I then had my dad arrive Saturday night to fit the hive heating control which replaced the segment switch with a wireless thermostat control that operates much like a light dimmer switch; turn up or down the temperature, 

She can now position the control unit in a comfortable location and adjust temperature by turning a volume wheel 

I then went back to the living room Saturday night to put two coats of paint on the cable ducting so if now matches the wall, 

Sunday morning I completed the television wiring and moved on to setting up the Amazon echo plus; the device fully understand my mother's accent;🕺 it's capable of turning on/off the wifi socket which we named "sitting room light"

Ive chosen genuine Amazon Wi-Fi Socket as some non genuine wifi sockets can cause problems or fire in Reality HD😂

it's also working with the heating control unit, we ask it to set temperature or boost heating for 5 minutes 10 minutes 30 minutes etc.

The Philips hue bulb in in the ceiling of the bedroom, She just says "Alexa turn on/off bedroom light" if says OK and does it.

I've also added an app to the echo which now knows which colour of wheelie bin is going out next Monday, it will remind her the evening before to put out the blue bin or green bin etc. 😀 

It even plays her favourite local radio stations which she had difficulty receiving signal on in the bedroom, since it's now coming through the internet signal isint a problem anymore. 

I have my own personal spotify account which I changed to a family account and set her up a spotify account under my family subscription on the family account which only costs an extra €5 per month for me and she can request any song atall; the Amazon echo then plays it from her spotify.

I've since put an order in for two Amazon Echo dots which are a smaller scale of the echo plus without the smart hub, they will go in the bedroom and living room, giving her full control everywhere aswell as her favourite local radio stations without signal issues. 

To finish everything off then I also provided a book and a highlighter pen to help her get the most from the device because she doesn't know how to use a computer or YouTube for information but she can read books.

She's now a totally different person,

She phoned me today to say how happy she was with it and that it even plays ocean sound effects, shes amazed it was able to tell her the weather in the local area ☺ and the book says I can listen to pod casts from the radio.

Overall I'm delighted I was able to take time out of my own busy working life to spend time with family and see there life improve by removing the daily reminders of things they can't do and replace them with something wonderful. 

Can't put a price on that 

And thanks for reading, thought I'd share with others in detail as were all getting older; these ideas may help someone you know too. 

[Turvey]

Yer a good man Lenny 👍

[zain611]

I like that it snowed. I'd be happy if it heavily snowed so I can have some fun with the handbrake 🤣

[Lenny]

2 hours ago, Turvey said:

Yer a good man Lenny 👍

Thanks mate 

[dezwez]

ill second that mate 😊

[Zico]

I haven't really taken any interest in Alexa or Google voice controls (personal preference for the time being) but hadn't really thought about how useful it would be for the older generation that aren't technically minded.

You've done very well there @Lenny to help your mum!!

[Stoney871]

Got an Echo Dot for xmas, didn't think too much about it to start with but now I've embraced the smart home concept.
Smart bulbs and thermostat control on order and Speakers connected.
All good fun.

Sent from my SM-G965F (S9+)

[TimST2]

The way ice forms on a waxed car. Oh, and the heated windscreen 

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[Lenny]

8 hours ago, Zico said:

I haven't really taken any interest in Alexa or Google voice controls (personal preference for the time being) but hadn't really thought about how useful it would be for the older generation that aren't technically minded.

You've done very well there @Lenny to help your mum!!

Thanks, I don't have one myself as the wife won't let me

but i was surprised to hear that the amazon echo has been around for over three years now, there's also some new features added where the device can listen for glass breaking or a fire alarm sounding while your out of the house, it can then alert you or an alarm monitoring company, it can also turn on/off devices at random while your out of the home to simulate occupancy.

If I had one I could contact my mother using voice, so if another family member local to her had one; in the event she fell or couldn't get to the phone she could ask Alexa to call the person with Alexa device,

This is Craig he has some good videos but I'm convinced the guy never leaves the house anymore 😂

 

3 hours ago, Stoney871 said:

Got an Echo Dot for xmas, didn't think too much about it to start with but now I've embraced the smart home concept.
Smart bulbs and thermostat control on order and speakers connected.
All good fun.

I'm planning to get the Philips Hue colour changing bulb kit for her birthday in July, she has a five bulb light in the ceiling of the living room,

the range of compatible devices is insane; there's even an infrared remote transmitter which simulates the use of a remote control using your voice through Alexa, 

53 minutes ago, TimST2 said:

The way ice forms on a waxed car. Oh, and the heated windscreen 

A work mate has a V8 BMW M5, but thismorning was the first time I beat him to the motorway thanks to the heated windscreen in my focus 😂 I hope his windscreen had thawed just enough for him to see me drive away from the car park ahead of him 🤣

[Turvey]

I do like raising a glass tonight to toast a    f a r t!!! 🍻 😊

 

My uncle went through an ileostomy reversal yesterday and apparently one of the signs that the procedure was successful is the expulsion of gas through the appropriate orifice! 

 

Said expulsions are apparently happening so all is looking good for him. He got the ileostomy last May so he's been through a fair bit this last year.

 

Cheers. 

[zain611]

I do like this. Not a tea person myself. Sometimes I wonder what makes certain scientists think of doing bizarre research. 

 

[Turvey]

21 minutes ago, zain611 said:

I do like this. Not a tea person myself. Sometimes I wonder what makes certain scientists think of doing bizarre research. 

 

I have 3 mugs I use at home, all red 😁

Don't know if I let it stew for 5 minutes though and our water is quite soft.

[dezwez]

love any tea wife says I have to much 😊

[Turvey]

37 minutes ago, dezwez said:

love any tea wife says I have to much 😊

Never have too much tea 😂

[dezwez]

1 minute ago, Turvey said:

Never have too much tea 😂

first one in the morning is the best

[martyntdci]

18 minutes ago, dezwez said:

first one in the morning is the best

You eat your tea first thing in the morning 🙄😁

[dezwez]

Just now, martyntdci said:

You eat your tea first thing in the morning 🙄😁

lol 🤣

[martyntdci]

Tbf I used to drink loads of coffee (ie 6 cups a day, 2 spoons per cup) but then something clicked and I noticed it leaves a strange after taste in your mouth..... So I converted to tea it's more refreshing, the taste has gone and I use 2 tea bags per brew

[dezwez]

1 minute ago, martyntdci said:

Tbf I used to drink loads of coffee (ie 6 cups a day, 2 spoons per cup) but then something clicked and I noticed it leaves a strange after taste in your mouth..... So I converted to tea it's more refreshing, the taste has gone and I use 2 tea bags per brew

is that  2 tea bags per cup or pot☺️