Yesterday my BT landline was out of order which I unusually discovered first thing in the morning as I wanted to use it. I don't use the landline very often and know it will disappear soon but as I still like the landline for speaking calls I use it. I picked it up and it was dead. I plugged in another old phone and still dead. I then reported it via the mobile and got a lot of automated things and then eventually a human who said that the rest of the reporting would be done via text messaging on my mobile. So I just played along and a bot was engaged to fix the phone and if the bot couldn't do it then Openreach would call. I had no idea what a bot was. But it was said that the problem was not in the house but if I was around the Openreach man might call in. Whatever happened it is now fixed. I went out to get cat food and on the way back just before the house I passed an Openreach van so whether he had been to my door I don't know. Exciting stuff eh?
What happened for the rest of the day was just nothing much, getting firewood in, doing jigsaw, reading and then in the evening was the men's figure skating. I watched this all evening, the selection of the 12 for the final on Friday evening. I watched on Eurosport on Discovery+ and whilst the girl's voice was irritating Chris Howarth I assume was the man commentating and was lovely. The girl's unfortunate voice was scratchy and harsh. If it wasn't Chris then whoever it was was good. I have been watching ice skating for years and years and years and I missed my mum last night because it was something we both enjoyed and would watch together. I used to have an ambition to go to the Winter Olympics to watch ice skating. It never happened. I also once worked with an ice skating judge in the 1970s.
This was in the days when the judges came out on to the ice wearing thick black overcoats after each skater and held up the numbers for the scores given. She was a weird lady called Margery and will be long dead now. She never spoke to anybody and was in the university of Newcastle office doing an admin job but I don't know what it was although we were in the same office. She never spoke to me but when she did speak she used to spit a lot and never looked at anybody. She was often away doing skating judging and presumably had an agreement with the university to do so and people would just say in hushed tones, "she's skating" whch actually meant she was away judging. She worked at Whitley Bay ice rink at weekends. It was as if everybody was terrified of her, which I think I was. It is hard to imagine these days. Office life was quite different then and, of course, there was no social media. I remember her name was once mentioned in a newspaper report as a British judge who was consistently harsh on skaters but because she was consistent it was ok, which of course it was. Even when it was in the paper nobody said anything to her as far as I know. The only person she seemed to speak to was one of the professors who she made tea for. Perhaps he talked to her about skating.
Many of the finest skaters last night had Russian backgrounds or Eastern European. I wonder why Russia and Eastern Europe produce such fine skaters. The pale faced American Ilia Malinin is the son of two Russian famous ice skaters. He is favourite to win for the USA. It is tight at the top though with Japan and France on his heels and is by no means decided yet.
Today I am at the university for poetry reading with friends.
We never use our land line at all. If it ever rings, rarely, I just ignore it. Anyone I really want to talk to will call my mobile and I'll have number recognition. Our problems are sorted out by K. As he knows most of the local phone workers its always sorted pretty quickly.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your poetry
I don't really need my landline but as it is still in my contract I use it from time to time and old habits die hard. I like to use it for any kind of business calls. I asked the young man if I had been cut off but he said they will tell you when that happens. I had assumed that the cut off time had come, I know it is imminent. I really won't miss it. Years ago we used to go up the road and grab the BT phone workers if we had a fault but now they are not allowed to do that, all rules and regulations!
DeleteWe watched the men's skating last night too - we discussed how today's technology has exponentially enhanced the viewer's involvement with the sport - particularly the 'Big Air' and the Luge - with the competitors being shadowed by drones - no wonder so many of them wear earpods with music - to help distance them from the 'madness' of everything surrounding them.
ReplyDeleteOne of the good sides of technology. The scoreboard side of things is now so enhanced by it. And the choice of what event to watch on tv at any time is also brilliant.
DeleteFor phone conversations such as with O.K. or my mother-in-law in Ripon, I much prefer my landline than using the mobile phone. That one is mostly for text messages, looking up train times, keeping my train tickets and occasionally finding directions when I am in an unfamiliar city and need to get to the venue of a conference or something like that.
ReplyDelete"Bot" is short for "robot" and simply means that a machine does the job instead of a person.
My Oma (grandmother) absolutely loved figure skating, and it was about the only sports she ever watched on TV. When I was young, we sometimes watched together; I loved the glittery costumes and the graceful movements, knowing full well this would never be my world; it seemed more like characters from a fairytale than real people there on the ice.
Yes, I think I knew it was a non-human but it is the way words are used and no explanations, as if we are all supposed to accept and take words like "bot" in our stride and understood. But thanks anyway.
DeleteI continue to love figure skating and I miss the Russians. They were the best.