I was working away at the computer this morning quite happily, with a good connection to the Internet. Then the line dropped. This happens occasionally and is usually solved by the traditional formula of “turning it off and on again”. I did this… several times but to no avail. A problem beyond the ordinary seemed to have occurred.

Our Internet Service Provider (ISP) is Zen Internet. They have a very good reputation and I have always found them reliable. Technical support hours are somewhat limited but when support is available, I have always found them most helpful.

This is the third router that we have had during our long relationship with Zen. The first was provided by Zen but we bought the other two ourselves from retailers. I recounted the installation of the current router in All I want for Christmas is a… router! Setting it up was very easy as much of the process was done automatically by the router itself.

The first thing to do was to use my phone to check Zen’s Service Alerts site to see whether there were known failures in our area. There were none.

The next thing was to log on to the router and see if anything could be done via settings. To my surprise, my attempts to log on all failed with an error message telling me that username and password were incorrect. I knew they were correct because I had recorded them in my password file. What was to be done now?

I remembered that when we bought the router, it had factory-set username and password. These were admin and admin. What if I entered these instead?

I tried it and it worked, delivering me to the set-up screen. I would have set up the router again from scratch but I knew that once I put in the basic details, the router would complete the job by itself automatically. I did this, remembering to go into the settings to change the username and password from admin to something of my own.

Then came the moment of suspense: would the computer be able to connect to the Internet? No! It woudn’t! It was receiving a strong enough signal from the router but just not connecting. Time to call those nice people at Zen!

The support person who answered was, as they always are, polite and attentive. He listened without interrupting while I told my story and asked him whether there was perhaps a local failure that had not yet been posted on the site. No, there were no failures.

He then asked what router I had and proposed to go through the settings with me. When we came to the username and password to connect to our account, I realized where I had gone wrong: I had entered, not the connection username and password but the username and password to access our acciount on Zen’s website! No wonder the router could not connect.

Opening the router’s configuration panel once more, I entered the corrected username and password. Even before I had clicked “save” and exited, I could see that websites were loading in my browser. We were back online!

The only question that remains is why the line dropped in the first place and why, this time, switching off and on didn’t cure it. Maybe the router is becoming a little old and will need replacing sometime soon. I hope that by then the shops will be open so that we can buy a router over the counter rather than have to order one online and wait several days, bereft of Internet, until it is delivered.

It was a little warmer today – only by a couple of degrees, but with the sun shining, that made all the difference.

Today’s first victim

We spotted a few more discarded Christmas trees on our way to Myddelton’s deli, where we sought our coffee today. The increase in the number of trees is matched by the decline in the number of wreaths on front doors. In a word, Christmas and its manifestations are fading rapidly from the scene.

A glimpse of the sun

I said the sun was shining – and it was – but not continuously. It would appear and then fade away behind clouds. I grabbed this shot of it while I could!

Cat in the window

The cat that we saw for the first time a few days ago and that I referred to as “the new cat on the block” (see Brave new Tier 4 world), was visible again today. S/he is quite pretty and is perhaps a Russian Blue, as Tigger suggested. We received a hard stare but no other sign of interest!

Discarded and trashed to boot

This poor tree has not only been cast out but has also been broken up, perhaps by the wheels of cars. We humans are capable of making much of something – or someone – one moment and then treating it as rubbish the next. Not an enviable characteristic.

A denizen of Cruikshank Street

In Cruikshank Street we encountered one of the inhabitants. He was very nervous, however, and not disposed to make friends. We assured him of our best intentions and let him be.

The ghost of a wreath

I said that the wreaths are disappearing, and they are, but in some cases they have left reminders of themselves behind, as on this door where you can see a pale ghost of the departed wreath.

This house is notable also for the two little ornamental dogs on the front step.

Doorstep plant and flower

This plant has a sheltered corner on the front steps of a house and has flowered – a harbinger of spring but perhaps also a mute witness to climate change.

Flowering window-box

The “accidental” plant above is prettily echoed by the flowering window-box in another house nearby. The Georgian style houses have broad windowsills (sometimes with ironwork on them) that lend themselves to window-boxes.

A fox passes by
Live photo by Tigger

Our attention was suddenly caught by this urban fox trotting across the road and entering the garden of Lloyd Square. I managed three photos but Tigger went one better by obtaining this live photo.

Ckerkenwell Parochial School

We had business in Naoroji Street and passed the school, tucked into the join of that street with St Helena Street. This is really the rear of the Clerkenwell Parochial School whose front is in Amwell Street and that I have already photographed. There is a question mark over whether schools will reopen in January – with all the risks to health that this implies – or whether they will remain closed – to the detriment of education. In addition, this school is in any case under threat of closure owing to a fall in the number of pupils.

Parakeets

Hearing an excited chatter of birds, we looked up and saw parakeets in a tree. This species, originally derived from escapees from aviaries, has bred prolifically and colonised most of the country, so much so that it is now to all intents and purposes endemic. They are quite noisy birds but also very fast moving, not remaining still for very long and therefore hard to photograph. Whatever was keeping them busy here – berries, perhaps – gave us a chance to photograph them.

Nameless passage

Our way next took us along this pleasant but unnamed passage between gardens. It is so narrow that we had to wait while a couple of people came along it towards us. The gardens are community gardens and not open to the public but we can at least enjoy the scenery.

Traffic calming in Lloyd Square

As we walked along Lloyd Square to the deli, we discovered a change since our last visit. Sharp eyes might be able to see what I am talking about: the posts set in the roadway.

For some time, there has been a campaign under way of local councils applying changes to the layout of residential streets with the intention of reducing the amount of traffic passing through neighbourhood areas by “encouraging” drivers to use main roads instead. These changes have brought complaints, even from some residents – those who own motor vehicles and find their usual path blocked.

In this street, posts have been installed to allow access to either end but prevent vehicles driving through. Large bicycle icons have been painted on the road to indicate passage for cyclists.

Another glimpse of the sun

Before making for the deli, I snapped the sun which had again peeped out from behind the clouds, playing celestial hide and seek.

Another rejected tree
Photo by Tigger

We made our way home from the deli, I carrying the coffee. Tigger photographed another victim of post-Christmas disaffection. The dull foliage of the tree makes a sad contrast with the bright green of the bag for garden recycling.

The Curvaceous Tree
Photo by Tigger

Tigger has taken to heart my affection for the Curvaceous Tree and, as I was carrying the coffee, proposed taking a photo of it for me. Well, I couldn’t refuse, could I? 🙂

Happy New Year Curvaceous Tree!

♫ A foggy day in London town… ♫

Well, not so much foggy as hazy and rather dull withal. So not really a day for dawdling and exploring, more a day for a quick trot round the block with a stop-off for coffee.

This, then, is 2021 or, at least, the first episode thereof. What will the remaining 364 episodes of the saga bring us? Many people have expressed high hopes of a more optimistic twist to the plotline, whereas the more cautious of us prefer to wait and see.

No stalls but a few open shops

In Chapel Market there were no stalls but a few shops were open and a few people who may or may not have been intending to buy things.

The Fish Shop

The fish shop was open and what looked like a possible customer went in. Note the gent in white wellies who had stepped out for a breath of fish-free air or possibly a cigarette.

Hardware and household

I continue to be confused about which shops are allowed to open and which are supposed to remain closed. A number of shops are open that don’t seem to me to fall within the “essential” designation. Just as well I don’t have a shop.

I didn’t surprise us that Mercer’s were closed and it didn’t worry us, either, because we knew Starbuck’s would be open.

Mask or no mask? Disagreement among the dummies

In Liverpool Road, these dummies differ as to whether to wear a mask or not. That’s fair enough, I suppose, as it reflects prevailing attitudes among the human population.

German Doner Kebabs

Though not a meat-eater, I am always bemused by this shop when I pass by. What are German doner kebabs and is there really any such thing? This website suggests that there may be, even though this recipe is usually said to have originated in Turkey.

Where time has stopped

Back in the High Street where, if you have sharp eyes, you may be able to see that the clock is showing the wrong time. It has been stopped for a while now and that always makes me feel sad. A clock is like a living thing and if it stops, it is as though it has died.

It is becoming more and more difficult (and no doubt, expensive) to have public analogue clocks serviced and repaired. I know of only one company who still does this work, Smith’s of Derby, though there may be others, of course.

Queueing at Starbuck’s

When we reached Starbuck’s, we found there was a queue and there were people waiting outside for their order to be brought out to them. We waited obediently in the queue, then Tigger was sent to the collection point while I went to wait outside. (There were too many people hanging around for me to go into my corner behind the door.)

Then we hurried home with our coffees.

Coffee and Kit Kat

I think I mentioned that I recently “rediscovered” Kit Kat. I knew these chocolate covered wafer biscuits as a child and hadn’t had any for years. Then Tigger bought some, the dark chocolate variety (she knows my preference for dark chocolate), and I found I still liked them. They go well with coffee (and tea).

By the way, I read that “Kit Kat” in the US isn’t really Kit Kat at all, but is made by a different company (Hershey, I believe). So I doubt whether they are the same, though I could of course be mistaken.

That was day 1 of 2021 and we wait with interest, and some trepidation, to see how the rest of it turns out.

It’s cold again today with a “feels like” factor of -1°C. Yes, I know that some of you live in parts of the world where you take deep subzero winter temperatures for granted but I don’t. I’m British, brought up in a land of fog and rain where, if it does snow, it’s well-behaved, apologetic, snow that has the decency to melt straightway or at least, within a day or two. I feel the cold!

It took us a while to get started today, until lunchtime in fact. Then we sat around for a while thinking about going out. We had half-planned to visit Myddelton’s deli today but, well, they closed at 3pm today, and we missed them.

Saint Espresso – closed

We decided we would just make a dash for coffee and come home again. We tried Saint Espresso but arrived just too late – there was someone still on the premises but he indicated by hand signals that they were closed. So Tigger hand-signalled “Happy New Year” to him and we went on our way.

“We’ll go to Starbuck’s,” said Tigger. “They’re open till 5pm.”

She had thought to photograph the opening-hours notice at our last visit.

Jusaka – closed

On reaching the Angel crossroads, we could see that Jusaka was closed. That was no surprise as they have been closed since before we entered Tier 4 and we’re beginning to wonder whether they will ever open again. This has been a ferociously bad time for small businesses and many have closed never to open again.

Islington High Street – busy

The High Street and, beyond, Upper Street, were quite busy even though the banks and other businesses were closed. I don’t know where all the people were going but they all seemed purposeful enough.

Starbuck’s – open

Starbuck’s was open – Tigger was right, of course – and in we went. Tigger went to the counter to order and I went along too as moral support. Then Tigger went to the collection point and I retired to my corner. That’s just to the left inside the door beside the shelf with the notice reading “DO NOT USE”. I’m out of people’s way there and it’s a warmer place to wait than outside.

Looks the same – except for the screens

Inside, Starbuck’s looks as it always did, except, of course, for the transparent screens that are now in use in all shops and businesses dealing with the public. That and the round footprint markers glued to the floor indicating which way you should walk.

Clutching the coffees (which, as I have explained, is my job), we set off for home.

We had, of course, put on masks to go into Starbuck’s, a fact that reminded me of something I find odd. Has anyone else experienced this?

People who wear spectacles complain that wearing a mask causes their lenses to steam up, especially in cold days. Now, I don’t wear spectacles in the street but I have noticed that my eyes steam up.

You may think that silly and the effect of overweening imagination but I first noticed the effect when I tried to read a notice while wearing a mask and finding I couldn’t. I thought my eyesight was failing but later, without the mask, it returned to normal. Since then, I have experienced the same effect systematically: my sight suffers when I wear a mask.

If you have noticed the same thing yourself – your eyeballs “steaming up” – I’d be interested to hear about it.

We returned home and drank our coffee accompanied by Kit Kat, the dark chocolate variety. I have rediscovered Kit Kat and how well they go with coffee and, for that matter, tea. Maybe I am regressing back into childhood!