The Bloggler

Cecilia I'm staying on the theme of technology with this post.   I read a disturbing article on the BBC website about a technological development featuring non-human bartender called Cecilia.  She is an animated female barmaid who can be hired, or bought for £34k.  She appears on a large upright video screen and you order your drink or cocktail by using a touch screen and pay for it by tapping  your bank card or phone.  The drink is dispensed from a vending slot or placed on a collection table.  Apparently, using voice recognition and A.I. technology, she can also chat to customers and even tell jokes (although A.I.'s attempts at one liner jokes have resulted in some hilarious failures ).  Now I can see how this might go down well with customers in some establishments, i.e. cruise ships, airports, hotels, big entertainment and hospitality venues e.g. night clubs etc..  However, it would be not be welcome in my local pub, The Halfway House. Thankfully, local pubs like mine are

Hermes and Tesla owners got caught out by technology this week. Hermes the distribution company delivered a parcel for my wife the other day. We were out at the time but Hermes helpfully informed her by email that the parcel had been delivered and placed in our front porch. We wondered how that was possible as we had locked our front porch door when we went out. When we looked at the photographic evidence that our courier, Mohammed had attached to the email it was clear that he had left the parcel on a flagstone somewhere and clearly not near our porch.  We discovered after knocking on neighbours doors that he had left it unannounced outside a neighbour's front door. The technology revealed, therefore, that Mohammed wasn’t very good at his job. He couldn’t be bothered or was in too much of a rush to do his job right and didn’t care that the parcel could have been stolen or damaged. Still, I know Mohammed is a regular good guy because in the email, it says he likes watching sport

This was the scene in my garden this morning ... a beautiful carpet of russet brown leaves leaves covering my lawn and flower beds.  But alas, more work for me and my trusty leaf blower. (See more photos below in response to  Terri's Webster's 'Sunday Stills' photo challenge  , the theme of which this week is 'Leaves and Trees'.) This is the second big leaf fall this Autumn.  The first consisted mainly of horse chestnut leaves.  I filled my composter, two big green wheelie bins and 8 big plastic sacks.  This time it is mainly beech leaves.   As you read this I have cleared the garden again although I have kept a few piles of leaves in the overgrown corners for the benefit of any local hedgehogs (I am a big hedgehog fan).  The downside is that the bloody squirrels will say "thank you very much, I'll collect some for my nest just as soon as I have finished burying conkers all over the garden and the flower tubs".   I finish with a leafy photo I took

This blog, leaving from Platform Blogger will hopefully arrive at WordPress in a few days.   I apologise for the delay which was due to leaves on the line and my general blogging incompetence. My brain hurts.   I have been trying to move this blog over to WordPress for weeks now and I feel it would be easier to crack the enigma code.   Currently I am blogging to a handful of WordPress and Blogger users and the number of views I get really doesn’t inspire me to continue putting finger to keyboard.    I was advised some months ago to move to wordpress to increase my visibility/views and blogging interaction and I can’t argue that this makes sense.   Trying to find and interact with bloggers using Google’s Blogger is like looking for a needle in a well hidden haystack. I’ll say this about Blogger.....   It’s really easy to set up and use.   I don’t understand all the terminology in ‘settings’ but the interface is friendly and straightforward.   And it costs nothing to operate ad-fre

This week’s Terri's Webster's Sunday Stills photo challenge is all about fur and feathers.  Here are my furry and feathered offerings.  See other entries by visiting Terri's site .      Look at me, I'm an angel too!     Mum and kitten chilling, in hotel grounds, Sirmione, Italy     Wild cat watching tourists in Nerja, Spain Happy dog at Tandle Hill Country Park    Furtive Squirrel on my garden fence      Swan-ing about at Lake Garda, Italy    Noisy Geese in Delph, Oldham      Hungry seagulls in Aldeburgh, Suffolk (they could smell our fish and chips)    Seagull watching the boats at Walberswick, Suffolk    Duck Family  Duck central, somewhere in Lincolnshire       Feeding the pigeons, Heraklion, Crete

The subject of this week's Sunday Stills photographic challenge is the colour orange .   One of the best things about Autumn is the changing colours of the landscape and in particular the various shades of orange that appear.  My first photograph therefore is a seasonal one and was taken in Tandle Hill Country Park a couple of years ago.  I'm not sure my camera did justice to this wonderful beech tree.   Looking through my photo collections I found 'Orange' a bit of a challenge.  However, I found this photo which I took in Tatton Park, Cheshire.  This deer is such a wonderful burnt orange colour.. My last one was taken in my garden and features a beautiful orange rose. The bush is still flowering now. Sunday Stills photo challenge is hosted by Terri Webster at Second Wind Leisure Perspectives .  Check out the entries on her site and enjoy some wonderful images of orange. 

Many personal bloggers are prolific posters. They share their daily movements and family stories with such ease and abandon.   They seem chirpy, busy people with lots of interests. On the other hand, they might really be quite boring and full of their own sense of importance.   Whatever!   They’re having fun and are keen to share themselves with us through their blogs and social media.   I read and indeed subscribe to many of these bloggers but for some reason I am uncomfortable sharing my own movements, life experiences, innermost thoughts and feelings, hobbies, relationships, etc..   I’d like to think I’m no less interesting a person than the average blogger but I have doubts as to whether people would be interested in much of what I get up to and what I think.   For some, personal blogging is a more serious affair .     They may focus on something they are really passionate about, like music or politics or they may focus on a cause, like their struggle with cancer or depression.