Renovations and Repayments.

AlexLK · 24 April 2016 at 9:06PM

A_Frayed_Knot wrote: »

Good to see you thinking ahead :T and dong so well

Sleep - lavender
Pocket Money - No time like the present
Bank of Mum & Dad - poor Mum and Dad :rotfl:

newgirly wrote: »

All quiet in your corner Alex, hope all is good

Watty1 wrote: »

Echoing...no posts for a while. Hows things?

Can't say Challenge 2 has worked out. It was causing a lot of problems between Mrs K and I. Anything I try to do to improve things, it seems she will try to destroy within a few weeks. To be honest, I'm ready to give up trying at the moment.

Really not doing well with sleeping or anything else. Perhaps lavender is what I need but probably not. :rotfl:

No pocket money for son yet. We've both been helping my cousin out though and it's wonderful to see how much he enjoys being there.

If Bank of Mum and Dad = poor parents, I'm doing this son thing wrong; my father has just ordered a new XJ and I'm slumming it in a Defender. :rotfl:

On another note entirely and one that involves spending £££s :eek:... I'm thinking about getting into the 21st Century and buying an iPad. It seems like a useful thing to have as we're going on holiday soon and I'd like to be able to get on the internet to look at various local attractions and plan our days but don't really want to take a large laptop. However, I don't know whether I'm getting drawn into the marketing or if the iPad is worth spending over £300 on? On the good side, I really have learnt something from MSE as I've been agonising over this for about 5 days now. :rotfl:

hiddenshadow · 24 April 2016 at 9:59PM

Nice to see you back, Alex.

Re: iPad I'd recommend looking at older models (we have an iPad 3 that still works great even though it's at least 3 years old now, probably closer to 4). As you haven't had one you won't have pre-conceptions about how light/speedy it should be (and unless you compare to newer models the 3 is fine). Looking on bay of E they're about £100-150 so decent savings if you're just looking to use it on holiday. Weight-wise its spec say 700 grams.

We had another iPad 3 that we gave to my MIL and she loves it as her "computer". She's gotten very tech-savvy in the past few years just via an iPad and an iPhone.

AlexLK · 24 April 2016 at 10:55PM

hiddenshadow wrote: »

Nice to see you back, Alex.

Re: iPad I'd recommend looking at older models (we have an iPad 3 that still works great even though it's at least 3 years old now, probably closer to 4). As you haven't had one you won't have pre-conceptions about how light/speedy it should be (and unless you compare to newer models the 3 is fine). Looking on bay of E they're about £100-150 so decent savings if you're just looking to use it on holiday. Weight-wise its spec say 700 grams.

We had another iPad 3 that we gave to my MIL and she loves it as her "computer". She's gotten very tech-savvy in the past few years just via an iPad and an iPhone.

Thanks, hiddenshadow.

Not really sure whether or not I should be here anymore, not exactly doing well and this is going to be another month we don't make an overpayment. Personally, I've spent nothing but that hasn't changed anything. Will have if I buy an iPad and have wondered if I'm considering that due to wife's behaviour as I'd probably have just taken the laptop.

TR6 will be going once we get back from our holiday, doing well towards getting the other cars ready for sale too. I do want to have that spent on the roof, though I'm not sure we'll see the benefit from it. Wife is currently talking about finding a new job to move away. She will need this place sold for the equity if it happens.

My problem with buying used technology is the fact I really don't know what to look for and my concern would be at 3-4 years old I wouldn't get many more years from it? I will use it when we get back from holiday, mainly for reading articles for my course. Also, I think it would be useful if we go abroad.

maman · 24 April 2016 at 11:44PM

Good to see you back Alex. I'm sure LittleK would love using an ipad!

AlexLK · 24 April 2016 at 11:56PM

maman wrote: »

Good to see you back Alex. I'm sure LittleK would love using an ipad!

:rotfl: That wasn't really the intention! I don't suppose using it under supervision would harm.

Not about to buy one for him and let him download mind numbing games, though.

Managed to go to bed early last night but not at all tired tonight despite a 9am meeting booked in the morning. Started writing a letter to Mrs K, hoping that finishing that will get enough out of my mind and allow me to sleep.

newgirly · 25 April 2016 at 7:11AM

Sorry all is not going well at the moment Alex. Re the iPad I am on my 3rd (due to 2 accidents with the first and second

) the third one I bought last year I changed to a mini, it cost about £260 I think and I have found it actually an easier size to use and carry about.

I have also ruined other makes of tablet :rotfl: I have found the iPad by far the best to use, although have always gone for the cheapest new one I can find. There is info on the main mse site of where the best current iPad deals are , and don't forget to check mega shopbot to compare.

Glad to see you back, even if it's not all going well, don't be a stranger

AlexLK · 25 April 2016 at 8:03AM

newgirly wrote: »

Sorry all is not going well at the moment Alex. Re the iPad I am on my 3rd (due to 2 accidents with the first and second ) the third one I bought last year I changed to a mini, it cost about £260 I think and I have found it actually an easier size to use and carry about.

I have also ruined other makes of tablet :rotfl: I have found the iPad by far the best to use, although have always gone for the cheapest new one I can find. There is info on the main mse site of where the best current iPad deals are , and don't forget to check mega shopbot to compare.

Glad to see you back, even if it's not all going well, don't be a stranger

Thanks, sometimes I think she's deliberately trying to wind me up.

I've heard about your iPad breakages before. If you don't mind me asking, how does it happen?

Already looked on the MSE site but the cheapest is directly from Apple (education discount). £334 for an Air 2, IIRC. What's "mega shopbot"??! Wife has one that I'm not allowed to touch but thinks it would be a good idea to get one with a higher storage capacity than standard. To be honest, I don't see the point as I doubt I'll download more than about 10 apps and won't be doing work on it. I only bother taking photos on a real camera and that's fairly rare. Would like it to hold 10 or so albums worth of music but that's not essential.

Not really sure I've anything to add to MSE at the moment, aprt from trying to work out whether or not the iPad is a good idea. At the moment, it's sat on the top of my frivolous purchases I'd like to buy list (in my head, not written down before someone asks), so not really a good idea I don't think. :eek:

newgirly · 25 April 2016 at 8:13AM

Well the first one i dropped on the kitchen floor tiles with no case on, the second was a spice jar - it was propped up on the worktop whilst I was following a receipe , opened the spice cupboard and a jar threw itself out :eek: it was repaired but was never right afterwards and would go blank.

The tesco hudl was ok but the charging ports wear out quickly , repaired once and refunded second time.

The free lg one with my (cheap!) phone contract was in my bag when I put a tin of soup in for my lunch at work and forgot

I probably should not be in charge of children really as I am an idiot :rotfl:

maman · 25 April 2016 at 10:15AM

AlexLK wrote: »

:rotfl: That wasn't really the intention! I don't suppose using it under supervision would harm. Not about to buy one for him and let him download mind numbing games, though.

Managed to go to bed early last night but not at all tired tonight despite a 9am meeting booked in the morning. Started writing a letter to Mrs K, hoping that finishing that will get enough out of my mind and allow me to sleep.

So pleased to hear you're not ruling LittleK using it completely out of hand. We've had this discussion before but I'm confident that developing IT skills is essential in today's world. Using apps and a touch screen is needed as well as using a keyboard. I agree about mind numbing games but I'm sure there are apps for children that help them to gain these skills. What I love (and currently use my phone for if out and about) is information at my fingertips. That's another skill that Little K will need i.e. to absorb information from a range of sources and make decisions about how reliable they are (a bit like being aware of bias in newspapers).

I'm assuming the 'letter to MrsK' was just to get the thoughts out of your head. I do hope the letter wasn't subservient. You have a huge amount to offer (and I don't just mean your inheritance) and it's high time MrsK started treating you as an equal and not putting herself first.

I'm in the same position as you in that I plan to buy one before I go on holiday. Don't scoff at using one as a camera though as the quality of photographs is good and it cuts down on luggage if your 'real' camera is a bulky one.

Goldiegirl · 25 April 2016 at 10:35AM

On the subject of iPads, I'd suggest an iPad mini, as they are a much better size for general portability.

I got the first iPad Mini shortly after it came out in late 2012. It's in constant use and is still going strong.

I'd also suggest getting a larger storage space than you think you'll need. Mine is 16gb, and it's getting quite full up now, but at first I thought 16gb would be more than enough for my needs.

I've got music on it, a few apps, and a few puzzle games. I've got a little camera that fits in my pocket, so I don't use it much for photography, but I've shot a few short videos with it. I tend to transfer the best photos that I've taken on to the iPad, so I can show people my holiday photos if they want to see them.

When I was on holiday, I used it to write my cruise diary, which I later posted on a cruise forum.

It's also used for a lot of general Internet surfing - indeed I'm using the iPad right now.

Games don't have to be 'mindless'. I'm currently doing sudoku, and I'm gradually moving up to the more difficult puzzles which really stretch the brain.

The way things are going, virtually everything in life will be accessed or interacted with by screens and apps. I think it's almost an essential that your son learns how to use a tablet, as soon as possible.

Computers, tablets and smart phones aren't the work of the devil - they are the way we live now, so children need to learn how to use them at the earliest possible age.

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