Category Archives: internet

new smart tv… again

03 Tuesday Jul 2018

Posted by in home, internet, retail therapy, shopping

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When I bought my first ever Smart TV three years ago, I actually wasn’t that smart about how smart a Smart TV was supposed to be. At the time I was mostly keen on having the (then) novel option of having a television with WIFI and found one on sale that seemed to fit the bill. And it did, although once I got it home I regretted not opting for a bigger screen. I went from 32 to 39, which wasn’t really that much bigger. But it was fine, and I was happy with it, until about a year or so ago when I started having problems with the sound. It just suddenly stopped. Then would start up again. Then stop again. And that has basically been the situation for about a year and a half. I never know when I turn on my TV if I will have sound, or how long it will take to “click in” again.

Since this problem happened outside the two-year warranty, well, it was either pay to see if it could be fixed, then hope it would be fixed, or just wait it out to see if it would fix itself. I’ve been opting for the latter, but it’s just getting on my nerves already. Also, I’m pretty sure that the day will come when the sound doesn’t ever magically come on again… and I don’t want that day to be when I can’t get a good deal and end up buying something in a fit of desperation.

I know… I can watch TV on my laptop, except… nah.

So anyhow… just ordered this baby online and a couple of hefty guys should be delivering it soon. 50 inch, new this year (2018) and fully whatevered. You can see that I have been studying all this tech shit carefully…

sally & rand

13 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by in friends, internet, sevilla

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So remember the person who got in touch by email last week to tell me about the new vermouth bar Yo Soy Tu Padre? Well, we were able to meet up before they headed home. Meet Sally and Rand from Boston, shown here at YSTP (later we went for a penúlitima at La Azotea). I never know who is reading my stuff, so it’s always great when I get to meet someone who has enjoyed my websites. They plan to come back next spring and spend another month in Triana, so we will stay in touch and hopefully see each other again next year.

reconnected… and it feels so good…

26 Wednesday Jul 2017

Posted by in computers, internet

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I had put in my request at Movistar for a new internet hook-up last week, once I found out that Moving Day would be the following Monday, but I didn’t expect that they would cut off my present service on Friday night (!!!). So I popped back over to the Movistar store on Saturday to find out what was going on and they said I would get my new connection within 14 days (!!!!!). Two weeks without internet at home?? Just getting through the weekend only using my iPhone was hard enough. I mean, it’s fine for just browsing and tweeting and instagramming, but not really ideal for answering emails and, well, running my business. So I was thrilled when Movistar called me yesterday morning and said they would be over the next day (today!) to hook me up.

Luckily there was an existing fibre-optic line so it wasn’t too complicated. And the technician even did a nice job of trying to hide the fine cords from Morcilla’s view. Time to fill up those shelves!

online shopping

20 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by in internet, retail therapy, sevilla

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For many years I have enjoyed online shopping for things like books and DVDs from Amazon, underwear from M&S and, more recently, things like Mephisto sandals and Kipling bags. But it was only a couple of weeks ago that I discovered the joys of online supermarket shopping. Today was my second supermarket online order at El Corte Inglés and I have to say I AM HOOKED.

I think what put me off online supermarket shopping is that I actually quite enjoy going to the supermarket – and the markets – myself. And I didn’t like the idea of someone else choosing my meat or veggies. But then I realized – duh – that I could just have them do the heavy lifting stuff. Which, living on the second floor without a lift, is extremely handy. So from now on things like cat sand, cat food, wine, water, olive oil, toilet paper, cleaning products… it’s all going to be brought to my house by nice burly men who are actually capable of hoisting all that stuff upstairs. Winning!

richard

14 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by in friends, instagram, internet, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars

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richard

That’s Richard @lucidcontent on the right, with his friend Neil. I’ve “known” Richard on Instagram for a couple of years now, the connection between us being his best friends David & Julie, who came out with me on a tapas tour a couple of years ago. Anyhow, Richard was passing through town this week and we got a chance to meet up in person. A very nice evening!

david-co-3Dave, Julie & family

adiós netflix

27 Friday May 2016

Posted by in cats, gadgets, home, internet, television

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movistar

I was so excited when I first got Netflix, thinking it was going to open up a whole world of digital viewing possibilities. But the selection – at least in Spain – is so dire that I gave it up after my six-month free trial was over (this week). And so now I’ve gone back to Movistar, which I ran screaming from over five years ago after I moved house and they royally screwed me over. But hey, times change. And Movistar seems to have a good deal going on, especially since they merged with Canal+. So I’ll try it out and see how it goes. I already like the interface better, much more intuitive. Also got Yomvi set up so I can watch my channels on the iPad when I’m away. Yeah, I know. But it’s fun news for me. Still have the same cord-chewing issues going on though…

a virtual tapas tour

14 Saturday May 2016

Posted by in friends, internet, tapas tours

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kiwiSaturday morning dawned bright and sunny after two long weeks of solid rain, and I woke up feeling great. But after my morning coffee I felt a bit odd, and at lunchtime I didn’t have much appetite. Then I started feeling all weak and woozy, so around 4 o’clock I thought I’d better lie down for a bit, because in the evening I had a special tapas tour lined up with Twitter pals @EricBurgess and @LauraWBurgess (and their new mascot Kev the Kiwi), something we’d planned months ago. Well, when I woke up again at 6 o’clock I was shivering and nauseous and knew there was no way I was going to make it. So I did my first ever Sevilla Tapas Tour from my bed!

First of all, Peter met up with Eric & Laura a half hour before his own private tour started, brought them to their first stop and got them set up with starter tapas and sherries. After that I took over and, staying in touch by Twitter DMs, I helped them find Bodeguita Romero after previously getting in touch with Alejandro. Luckily I’d just had a sherry-filled afternoon the week before with José & Peter, so Alejandro knew what to do and he took very good care of them. It was kind of fun, doing a virtual tour, and better than not being with them at all. But I do look forward to finally meeting them in person when they come back in September.

on helping…

20 Wednesday Apr 2016

Posted by in blogging, food & drink, internet, sevilla, spain, work

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help line

Don’t get me wrong… I love helping people. And I love sharing my knowledge about Spain. Which is what led to the labour of love that is Sevilla Tapas and its various offshoots. Which then led to me offering food & wine tours, and later on personalised travel planning. Meanwhile, I keep updating my websites as best I can, as time (and money) allows, so that others can also enjoy and benefit from my experiences.

But what I don’t get are the people who email me saying what a nice website I have and then ask me to recommend specific tapas bars for their short stay in Sevilla, or hotels that would suit their particular requirements, local sights they shouldn’t miss, or possible day trips they should take while they are here, etc…

Guys! All that info is there. It has always been there. It’s there for you to use and – I hope – will be useful. Happy to share and all that. But please don’t ask me to take time out of my busy day to organise your holiday with “my favourite picks” based on your special needs… you can actually find that out yourselves by spending some time on my sites. I did all that research so you wouldn’t have to start from scratch. If you’d like a personalised holiday itinerary, or a fabulous food & wine tour, then I also offer those services. But you do have to pay for that. I’m not complaining, but I always feel a bit mean when I don’t have time to get back to these people.

Have to say though, that it always makes me happy when I get an email from someone recently back from a holiday in Sevilla who tells me what a fabulous resource my sites were for them, how they helped them have a much better time than they would have managed on their own. That makes my day!  🙂

look at meeeee!

29 Tuesday Mar 2016

Posted by in instagram, internet, social media

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insta
A while ago there were rumblings of Instagram changing their reversed chronological order system for an algorithm that would decide which photos you should see first, based on your online behaviour. Which not only sounds creepy, but also, like, fuck off. I follow the people I follow for a reason, and don’t want to see some of them obliterated from my timeline because they maybe post less frequently than others (hence, fewer “likes”) or end up seeing ones I’m only slightly interested in because they are Hugely Popular. Twitter also threatened something recently and – at least for now – has made it possible to opt-out and stay with a chronological feed.

Then an unfounded rumour about the algorithm apocalypse happening this week went viral, leading to countless Instagram posts like the one above, pleading with followers to enable notifications so they would still be able to see… THEIR posts. Like, what? My main concern about this change was that I wouldn’t be able to see everyone I enjoy following. But the idea of enabling notifications for the 500+ people I follow is a ridiculous notion, not only because doing this would be very time consuming, but seriously, I do not want to get notified every time a photo pops up on my Instagram feed. Part of the pleasure of Instagram for me is lazily scrolling through the various pics and stories, from various time zones, when I feel like it. I know I don’t end up seeing all of them. Though, for example, if I know someone is on holiday somewhere I’m interested, I will click on their profile page to see all their recent pics (instead of waiting for them to appear on my feed). And frankly, some people do interest me more than others, but I want to be able to decide who those people are, not some algorithm that – let’s face it – doesn’t REALLY know me.

Anyhow, it was interesting to see how many people were so concerned about their own photos being seen that they posted versions of the above “look at meeeee!” notice. Surely they should know people like me would be looking them up anyhow, if truly interested.