German Words For the Weekend

 Where can you learn and practise speaking German? 

Flag of Germany

Flag of Austria

Flag of Switzerland

You can use German in Germany, Austria and German-speaking parts of Switzerland.  Also Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and parts of Belgium and Italy.

Flag of Luxembourg.

Flag of Liechtenstein.

German - English easy words

Bald - soon (I remember soon you will be bald)

Bank - bank

der Computer - the computer

endlich - finally

der Laptop - the laptop

einen Moment - one moment

Projekt - project

Medizin - medicine

Nachmittag - afternoon

English - German words 

Now copy the words from the above list.

Useful Websites For Learning |German

Useful English-German websites

duolingo.com

https://wikitravel.org/en/German_phrasebook

translate.google.com

-ends-

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German words - same, easy, difficult, confusing

Where can you learn and practise speaking German? 

Flag of Germany

Flag of Austria

Flag of Switzerland

You can use German in Germany, Austria and German-speaking parts of Switzerland.  Also Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and parts of Belgium and Italy.

Flag of Luxembourg.

Flag of Liechtenstein.

 German - English  the same word

The same words, except that nouns start with a capital letter in German

English - German

laptop - Laptop

party - Party

popcorn - Popcorn

snacks - Snacks

team - Team

German - English easy to remember  similar words

nie - never (letters n to start and e later)

Salzig - salty - the first three letters are the same and the last letter has a tail, also called a loop and a descender

Schokolade - chocolate

sehr - very  (Both words have the letters e and r)

English to German easy words

chocolate - Schokolade (Capital letter at the start for a noun. Three letters changed. Add an s at the start, change c to k in the middle and t to d at the end )

German - English, new and difficult to remember

dort - there

kerzen - candles (The two languages use the sounds of ck and n)

ohne - without (The letters o and h are in both words)

Popmusic - pop music (capital for a noun, and German runs words together)

viele - many

German - English - confusing words

immer - always (not just immediately, right now, but all the time)

Kekse - cookies USA / biscuits UK ( not cakes)

Lust - desire for (noun, not sexual like the English word lust, but could be craving for a food, or to be in the mood to eat something, or to feel like having it)

Kuchen - cake

magst du - do you like (not do you make, I think of do you munch)

Spiele - games (not a long story, which is Yiddish)

toll - great (not tall, nor the noun toll, but think of a great size and a great toll, alt is high)

Useful Websites for learning German

Learning languages including German and many more online for free

duolingo.com

Translate words and sentences

translate google

Useful phrases and sentences for travellers

wikivoyage phrasebook German

Describe parts of a letter

https://bydawnnicole.com/the-anatomy-of-letters/

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Poetry Practise With Author Angela, Teacher, Alison and Writers Weekend Organizers, The Hobbs Family

Angela Lansbury, author, performer of comic poetry, with Alison Chisholm poetry teacher and author, at Fishguard Bay Hotel in Wales. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Angela Lansbury, author and poet, reading three of  her short poems from her laptop. you can see I am looking down when I should be looking at the audience.

Angela Lansbury, author and poet, reciting from memory and improvising a rap poem about being 'Busy as a bee', in Fishguard Bay Hotel, during the annual Writers' Holiday.

Angela Lansbury, author and poetry performer, with another poetry performer, Scottish Fiona. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Fishguard Bay Hotel, Writers' Holiday, family of organizers and a regular speaker. From Left, Gerry Hobbs, his son David who drives us to the station, daughter-in-law and supporter, Speaker and course leader and author Stephen Wade, Gerry's wife Anne Hobbs, who gives the opening night welcome speech. She says: 'They only rule is there are no rules. Actually, there is one rule: Enjoy yourself.'

The next Writers' Holiday is February 2021.

Useful Website

writersholiday.net

About the Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker, teacher of English and other languages.
Please share links to your favourite posts.

Laptop and Publishing tips and Tricks - snippets

1 Machine won't turn on.
You turn on your machine, your laptop, on, and it's stuck.

Turn it off and on. Don't bother with escape and three keys. Just turn the power off. Count to fifteen slowly. Turn it on again.

I tried it. It worked.

Hints: Your laptop will turn itself off if you leave it unplugged so there is not power. Or if you shut the lid.

Why would you shut the lid?:
To stop it bleeping and keeping you awake in the night in your hotel room.
To stop the light from the screen keeping you awake.

2 Publish An Ebook
Load up a template for ebooks from Lulu.com or Amazon or Smashwords. Use the same title and author name. All you need is a different ISBN number.

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Author of Quick Quotations.
Please share links to your favourite posts.

Orange trees and discussions on red packets containing gifts of money for Chinese New Year

Orange tree at the entrance to the ground floor restaurant at  Sheraton Towers Hotel, near Newton MRT station, Singapore.

I chose red packets as my theme when I was topics master at a Toastmasters International speakers club, Eminent. I forwarded on WhatsApp on my mobile phone several pictures of red packets so that the President could display them. That way and I did not have to travel carrying a heavy laptop or even a thumb drive.

Red packet for Chinese New Year with illustrations of oranges.

The first red packets I chose to display showed red packets with pictures of oranges.

In addition to red packets, people give oranges, at least two, or trees with orange fruit and red ribbons.

I asked everybody: 'What do you know about Chinese New Year And Red Packets? Is there anybody Chinese in the audience?'


Chinese flag

Red Packets And Chinese Families
My friend Mrs Lim immediately volunteered herself. She told us:


Singapore Flag

'Like in China, in Singapore red packets, for Chinese New Year, as well as other festivals, are traditionally given by the married and well-paid, employed elders to their younger children and nephews and nieces, children, friends' children, and younger relatives who are not married and not yet earning money. Some families give red packets to those who are earning a living and not yet married.  And low-paid employees. We used to do this.

'Children are very excited to receive red packets. But our youngsters are well-paid and don't need the money. So we told them, we won't give you any money and we don't expect any from you. We will just give you our good wishes. And our time.

'Everybody was happy with that. But that's just our family, and how we celebrate Chinese New Year, with a get together.'

Oranges and Orange Blossoms
In Singapore my family has on the living room balcony a small 'orange tree' (identified by a local garden centre as a miniature lime tree). Just in time for Chinese New Year 2020, the oranges, I mean limes, started turning orange, and a small white flower came out. We have made orange-lime marmalade. I water and watch our tree daily, and encourage the rest of the family to take turns. Could I rely on my family and the neighbours and visitors to keep the orange tree alive when I am not there. We had one which died in early 2019. This one is thriving - under my constant care. But I worry about whether it will survive when I am away in England. On the screen at the meeting I had red packets showing oranges.

I asked the members of Toastmasters International who were at the meeting, 'What can you tell us about oranges or orange trees and why do you and other people like them?'

'The answer from S... was:
'Flowering trees are beautiful. I was in Melbourne, Australia, in spring and they had flowering trees given by the Japanese people. Wonderful. A carpet of flower petals. A cloud of flowers. A sea of colours. It makes your heart sing. It makes you happy. Orange trees have the same effect. The fruit and the flowers. Spring time, colour and fruit and growing, a time of hope.'

My other questions were about the designs of different red packets:


Red packet for Chinese New Year with fish design.

I asked:
'Who would like a red packet with the design of fish and water?'

Fish and water
Fish is the sign of Pisces, meaning fish, in the Western zodiac. The speaker said:
You see fish a lot in Singapore outside big buildings such as shopping centres, malls, blocks of flats and offices. Fish are thought to be soothing. They bring good luck. Watching fish is very restful.'

A heckler shouted, 'Eating fish is even better!'
'What if you are vegetarian? What would a fish say to that?'
 'Fish would agree with me. Fish like eating fish, too.'

Children And Gifts
I said: 'Children receive red packets with joy. Why would you like a red packet with a picture of children?'
The respondent, P, said: 'I don't have children. Where children are concerned, I have my boundaries.  But I like entertaining my nephews and nieces. They like my visits. So long as there's a finite time.'
Hecklers shouted various time limits, such as:
'Two hours.'
'Two minutes.'

The speaker continued, 'What I like about children is their enthusiasm. And their honesty. They tell the truth. If they don't like something they tell you. If they like something, they show it.'

Useful Websites

singaporeair.com

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Singapore

About the Author
Angela Lansbury is British and a Singapore Permanent Resident. She is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Please share links to your favourite posts.
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/collect-red-packets-for-chinese-new-year.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/more-orange-trees-and-discussions-on.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/what-is-inside-chinese-red-packets.html

How To Connect Your Laptop To A Projector or Screen VDU (video display unit)

When you travel to give a slide or video presentation you need to check that your laptop will connect up. When you are in a one to one meeting you can share screens if you sit side by side. But, in most rooms you want to display your visuals on a large screen.

Why Do You Need Visuals?

• A welcome slide gives the early arrivals something to look at. So they are not wasting time. Nor are they getting stressed, nor annoyed. 
• You look professional and well prepared.
• If you speak quietly or a plane or siren or singing next door interrupts so they can't hear they can still see the message.
• They may forget, but you can re-show your opening slide at the end to reinforce the point and to update laecomers.
• You can list your credentials in an impartial manner.  without sounding boastful, nor leaving out essential information because you feel shy and modest.
• 
  
• You can ensure nothing is forgotten.
• The audience can photograph your slides to take home to their groups, or as a reminder.
• You can be photographed in front of an informative slide, which looks more interesting and professional than just grinning at the camera.
• Those who are hard of hearing can get the essentials from the slide.
• A glossary of essential words and technical terms can be displayed.

You might also need:

• The company motto.
• The company song.
• A motivational song. (Only 8 seconds.)
• A rousing march to put them in a good mood and make them feel energetic.
• A seasonal song such as, We wish you a merry Christmas at Christmas.
• A love song for Valentine's day.
• The words of a song you wish them to sing.
• Or a hymn. 
• Or Auld lang syne (with a translation, such as Old Times' Sake.).
• Or happy birthday. (Or the translation into Spanish or the Japanese language or Tagalog, the language of the Philippines.) 
• The words of a promise or pledge you wish them to make. 
• Or a prayer. 
• Or a vow.

The Technical person or organizer should call all speakers, and in fact the entire audience in case a speaker drops out at the last minute and somebody else takes over.

If you are the meeting or conference organizer, remind your technical person or Sergeant at Arms who sets up the room with flipcharts and video and audio equipment to check with all speakers what they need.

Telling people that the meeting starts at 7 when you want to start at 7 is frequently a recipe for disaster, a third to a half of the people will turn up just before the start. If they arrive early, they go off for coffee, spend extra time combing their hair, or look around the nearby shops or take selfies with themselves and friends in the lobby.

Time Needed
Allow five minutes per speaker. When a speaker arrives, if the techie is busy with the first speaker, he or she has no time to deal with the second and third speakers, which means a delay for their set-up mid-meeting.

Sometimes the cables have to be taken out of a cupboard and plugged in. Sometimes cables have to be collected from the admin office which could be on the ground floor when your meeting room or auditorium is on the fifth floor or higher.

Delays
The chairman, realising that key people, such as the technical expert are missing, might delay the start of the meeting.

For Delays
Why delay? So that the technical person who is being helpful is not punished by missing the opening.
To the missing person does not interrupt the opening speech and welcome.

Against Delays
This infuriates those who have arrived ten minutes or half an hour early. Especially if they are Judgers on the Myers Briggs personality type test.

A screen is called a Video Display Unit or for short, VDU.

Connectors Needed
You might go to one venue where you don't need a connector. A well-organized storage cupboard will have the required cables for all eventualities.

Just because your home club or the one you visit regularly has the cable you require, does not mean that every venue has one.

In a large auditorium, you may have.
Thumb drive - loading it takes time.
Know where your thumb drive is.

This takes another five minutes to
Find the files,
Load them onto the thumb drive,
Get the helpers laptop brought forward,
Load in the correct set of files from the thumbdrive,
Find the first slide.
Adjust the display so the slide is on the screen and not half on the wall, nor too small to read.
Call back the chairperson who has wandered off to socialise or network.
Tell both the chairperson and/or toastmaster of the day that you are ready to start.

Having once or twice come a cropper, I now know:

I need to carry a spare connector at all times.
To co-ordinate in any venue I need:

1 A VGA socket. (Video graphics array. 30 years old but still used.)
2 HDMI (High Definition Media Interface)
3 Display Port

If in doubt, ask the convener to send a photo of the connection at the venue.
If returning to the same venue, take your own photo of the correct connector and socket before leaving.

Packing List
Laptop
Power brick
Mouse
Thumbdrive
Slide show (Powerpoint, the Microsoft program, Keynote on Apple, Mosaic)
VGA socket
HDMI
Display Port

About the Author
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer. She currently (2020) attends a toastmasters International speakers training club once or twice a day.

What To Wear, Not Wear, And Carry On a Flight

Before you start packing, note the size and weight allowed for check-in and carry-on luggage. If you have multiple legs of your journey, pack for the most restrictive flight, unless you plan to mail items back home half way, or leave your heaviest suitcase with family at your first stopover, and carry on with a lighter bag.

DRESS FOR YOUR DESTINATION
The rule is, dress for your destination. However, you also need to think about your journey to the airport, going through security, and on the plane.

HOT DESTINATIONS
CLOTHES

UK flag. London - hot in summer, cold in winter.

Why dress for your destination? One year I wore heavy knee high boots and a long coat in London. I flew to India.

Indian flag.

India and Asia. Hot countries.

My luggage was delayed 24 hours. So I was left wearing my London clothes for snow in the heat of Delhi.

First, I was far too hot in Delhi. Second I had no spare underclothes. Third, I  looked daft and everybody stared at me.

If you are flying to a hot destination, you need a lightweight outfit either in your carry-on luggage or under your warmer second layer.

NOTE SEASONS
Australia has opposite seasons to the UK and Europe.

Flag of tropical Singapore which is hot all year.


Singapore
Singapore is hot all year.In Singapore, you need light single layer clothes for walking to and from the MRT train stations, or waiting in line outdoors for a taxi. You also need a jacket to wear indoors in the air-conditioned taxi, the restaurants and hotels and office meeting rooms.

Japan has four seasons.




















Korean flag.

Korea can be cold and snowing in winter. Minus fifteen at a ski resort I visited.

Thermals
I always take one thermal vest and a deerstalker hat which covers ears and a pair of gloves. They are light to pack. Even if you are perspiring in the heat at mid-day, if you take a trip on a boat, ferry or cruise ship at night, the sea breeze can be cold.

Vietnam


















Vietnam flag.

Vietnam's weather can change from hot to cold between Xmas and New Year. I arrived in light clothes in Christmas 2018. By Jan 1st 2019 I needed a warm hooded jacket to protect my head and neck from the winds when waiting at bus stops.

LAYERS
However, don't wear too many layers. On a couple of occasions I wore two jackets. This meant lighter packing.

JACKETS
Actually I grabbed the second jacket at the last minute when I opened the front door in London and felt the cold air at dawn. I remembered the dreadful cold draft which hits you as you trundle all your luggage from the place where the taxi to the airport drops you, from the outer building to the inner building.

 I had to remove both jackets at security. Undressing all the layers delayed me so I was well behind my husband, who was impatiently waiting.

On the first occasion, I remembered my second jacket and had to go back to collect it.This should have been a warning.

The second time, I went back and my jacket was gone.

PONCHOS AND SLEEVELESS JACKETS
Alternatives are a poncho or sleeveless jacket. Make sure you can wear your shoulder bag or cross-body bag easily under or over the poncho.

A poncho can double up as a warm cover if the airplane is cold.

LIPSTICKS
No Lipsticks Nor Medicines
On one trip I put my liquid medicine and my lipstick in a  lovely case in the little plastic bag in a separate container. I lost it. the lost property office was miles away.

When I went online, you had to describe your item. No room for three items, you could only list one.

Luckily I had a second lipstick in the same lovely case. But I never travelled with it again. One solution is to pack a lipstick. On board only carry a lipstick which is almost finished, with just less than one centimeter at the base. Use a lipstick brush to apply it.

Or pack your valuable lipstick. Take a cheap, current colour,  and easily replaceable one for the journey.

No Metals
Metals will set off the metal detector which you might need to walk through. This means:

CLOTHES
1 No shoes with metal tips or metal ended laces.
2 No boots nor shoes with metal eyelets for laces.
3 No belts with metal buckles.
4 No all metal belts. Not loose ones threaded through loops on jeans, nor holding up the waist of long dresses so you don't trip. No fixed sewn-on half belts on the back or sides of jackets.

5 No jackets with metal eyelets.
6 No shirts nor blouses with fixed or removable metal collar ends. (Old shirts used to have whalebone strips to keep collars flat. These were replaced by cheaper plastic strips. Then the fashion was fixed tips so the collar lay flat and did not fray. Then metal corners you could clip on became available.)

BAGS
7 No bags with metal chain shoulder straps nor reinforcing triangles where the strap meets the bag, nor stud patterns.

Lightweight bags are less weight on the shoulders as well as keeping within your allowance. 

A sturdier bag might protect a laptop or by pickpocket proof. A reversible bag gives you more colour options. If one side gets dirty, you can reverse it.

I pack a small bag inside a bigger one.

If I have space in my carry-on bag, I can put my heavier shoulder bag inside it and have a hand free at the airport. The smaller neck bag can carry a passport or ticket or boarding pass.

Another handy item is a neck pocket which can carry your spectacles when you are asleep, or your phone or toothbrush when you hop out to the toilet.

ACCESSORIES
8 No pendants or necklaces with heavy metal chains and heavy metal pendants. (You might find a fine gold choker necklace goes through without a problem.)
9 No metal brooches, rings or bracelets.
10 No hats nor baseball caps with metal shields or symbols on the front, nor buckles at the back.

HIGH HEELED SHOES
Don't wear high heeled shoes for longhaul. Or keep them separate to wear at the far end.
1 During those long walks at airports such as Heathrow and same transit airports in the USA, your feet will ache.
2 Also, if you have to evacuate an aircraft, you have to remove high heeled shoes because they would rip the slide fabric as you hurtle down the slide from the plane to the ground.

Small Items
If you do have to remove small items, try to put them inside something else, such as a zip up pocket or bag, so they don't roll out or get forgotten or take up extra trays.

Keep track of how many items you are collecting. Wear brightly coloured items you can identify and which others will not take by mistake.

If you are asked to step aside to open an item for inspection, try to watch out for your other items. Alternatively, list the number of items you need to collect and ask another member of your family or group to keep an  eye out.

Remember that items apparently left behind at security may be whisked away by the staff so that a moment later they have vanished.

Laptops and covers and accessories
You might keep all your accessories together so as not to lose anything and not to have to count, nor to get delayed. However, you might need to remove your laptop from your carry on bag. One solution is to have the laptop already outside the cover. Use the cover to protect one side of the bag.

Use another bag or a light item such as a jumper or neck pillow to cushion the other side of the laptop and its sides. Once you are through the security area, you can  place the laptop back in its secure cover for the rest of the journey.

Leftover Wine
When clearing out your fridge, you might give leftovers to a neighbour, send an email to yur family reminding them which foods are about to reach their expiry date.

Leftover wine in the fridge might be used in cooking or for cleaning, or dyeing clothes. You won't be allowed to take it with you in Platy Preserves. You might be allowed to take on board 100 ml. Stock up with a couple or more 100 ml bottles if that is the maximum allowed on your airline.

If two of you are travelling and your spouse does not drink, you might be able to give them a bottle to take some for you.

Food and drink
Don't take on board items which will get you into trouble.

I was told that I could take cut flowers, but not plants with roots and soil, into Singapore.
Check the latest regulations before you fly, in case rules have been tightened or relaxed.

Apples from your home or hotel breakfast table, into the USA.

No fruit and vegetables into Australia.

Meats are banned in some European and Asian destination.

Knives
Also watch out for knives, scissors, needles. If you have a small, padded envelope addressed to yourself, and stamped, you might be able to post back to your home any item that adults or children are found to be carrying at the airport before you check-in.

Some airports simply throw away confiscated items.That multi-function Swiss army knife with the bottle opener, in your backpack, is an expensive and useful item you might not want to lose, especially if it was a birthday present.

Sometimes airports will store them for you to collect on your return. Ask. Allow time for delays over such items.

Once, my husband had accidentally taken as far as security a banned item he could not afford to lose. to retrieve his carry-on luggage and retreat back to the check in desk. This took half an hour, because they needed a member of staff who was not busy checking in passengers. She had to go to the office on the other side of the terminal to collect a form and bring it back. The form had to be filled in. Then through passport checks and security again.

Don't swear at security or you might get locked  up. Not advisable!

My best journey was travelling light with only a carry-on bag.

Happy travelling.

Useful Websites
https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/sg/travel-info/baggage/baggage-allowance/
https://www.skyscanner.net/news/tips/7-ways-to-beat-ryanair-cabin-baggage-rules
https://topjourneymag.com/15-things-you-should-never-wear-during-a-flight
https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/sg/travel-info/baggage/baggage-restrictions/

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Recycled Ice Cream Lid

On many airlines nowadays you get ice cream as dessert. I often save the lid.

I saved the lid from an ice cream to recycle it. I had no idea what I would do with it. I thought I would just rest it on top of a glass of water.

In Singapore and tropical countries, New York and UK in summer, you need to drink water all the time because you are perspiring all the time.

I was delighted to find it made a perfect fit, clamped tight, which stopped the risk of the water spilling from the glass of water onto my laptop.

Useful Websites
singaporeair.com

Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, Author and speaker. I have other posts on airlines and ice creams.
Please share links to your favourite posts.

Packing - phone and accessories

Taking a flight? First thing - print you ticket? No need to waste your ink and paper. Nowadays you have e-tickets, or have it to hand on your phone. But which phone, not the one you were going to leave behind!

You want to be sure you have the connector, the charger, and as backup a power block. Make sure that is charged. How do you know that it is charged? Press in the button and you should see blue lights.

Packing Lists
Next, where to keep the packing list?

On your phone, laptop, inside the suitcase lid, on the back of the wardrobe door.
Make sure your phone accessories are in the same bag and on the list:

Charger connection lead (one which uploads and charges - some don't do both), and tripod and case.

On arrival check you have:

In-flight cancel wifi cancelled so you are back on wifi.

Alarms set to wake you at local time.

Inform family friends and colleagues you are home.

Angela Lansbury
Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please save links to your favourite posts. 

Help loading up photos, and solving problems with your laptop and mobile phone - especially for the MacBook and iPhone

Problems
TRANSFERRING PHOTOS
1 I used to have trouble loading up my photos.
EDITING PHOTOS
2 Then editing them.
FROZEN LAPTOP
3 Later my laptop froze. Nothing was happening. (Glossary at end for basics.)

Reasons
1TRANSFERRING PHOTOS
If the laptop has been carried about and has only just been plugged in, you may need to wait a short while for both the laptop and the mobile phone to be moderately powered before they start talking to each other and downloading photos from the phone to the laptop.

2 EDITING

If you are in the middle of editing, that stops other functions. For example, if you have a window open for Information and change the title of a photo, on my system you cannot do anything else until you have shut that window.

FROZEN LAPTOP
Is my laptop on? First check the plug is secure in the socket, the switch is on, the multiple extension socket is plugged into the wall. (Somebody could have plugged in a table lamp or coffee maker or vacuum cleaner or another laptop and disconnected the extension.

If the green light is on, the power is getting through to the laptop.

If something is on the laptop is on screen but nothing is moving, that is good sign(s); it's not dead, just in a coma.

1 Try re-starting.

2 If that doesn't work, turn it off. Hold down the power (circle with a line pointing through 12) for several seconds until the screen goes blank.

Wait a minute.

Press power on again.

You should hear the whirring, the start up tune or warning, then on comes a symbol, then a useful screen.

You might need a password.

With luck, you get back to the menu.

Routers
Is the problem my router?

Mobiles
Is my mobile on?
If the screen has something showing, probably on.

Laptops
Laptop
1 You are in the middle of an activity and you need to close that before starting anything else. Check all over your screen. Shut everything else down.
If all else fails, go to the brand sign top left of the screen (the apple for a MacBook Air or Pro) and click on it. Try restart. If it says this will shut in 57 seconds, and you are impatient, there's probably a sign in effect saying click here to do it now.

2 Your laptop is asleep although it is connected because the power is not yet firing it up. (Just like somebody coming into the room and shouting a question at you first thing in the morning. You may have your eyes open but you are not yet awake.)

Phone Fails
You cannot use your phone whilst it is attached to the socket soaking up the power to recharge its battery. (Like you when you are drinking water.)

You have to disconnect the mobile from the cable linking it to the power supply and then it will work.)

The phone keeps asking me for my pin number. Why is it doing this?

Because you have been busy doing something else. Just in case you put your phone down on the table in a restaurant, ignored it for a while, and somebody else picked it up, your phone is set to switch off automatically when not used and ask for the PIN (personal identity number) before it starts. In 'Settings' you can decide how long you want it to wait before asking for your pin number.

Solutions
First check if the blue or green lights are flashing.

If the lights are on, like the saying goes, that usually means somebody is at home or the machine is working.

No lights? Once I unplugged the router, not knowing what it was, when I was vacuuming. Somebody else in the family checked the router, saw it was disconnected and plugged it back in.

Re-setting the router.
Like everything else electrical and with a cable, sometimes you need to unplug and re-plug and that is all it takes to get the machine going again. Note how many things are being unplugged and where they connect. You might like to take a photo before unplugging.

If you have only one circular piece and one circular hole, that's easy. Pull it out, wait a minute, then plug in again. (Unplug everything at the same time and then re-plug everything, to be sure and not get in a muddle or forget to re-plug, or forget to unplug and replug one cable. But disconnect each one by one if you are checking which connection is faulty.)

If you have several sockets, all identical, maybe it doesn't matter which one you use. If all else fails, just in case a socket is faulty, plug the cable back into a different socket later. (Just in case the socket is faulty or you damaged it when yanking, you could try another one later.)

Router Pin Number Needed
Now you may be asked for the pin number for the router. This is usually on the back of the router. However, it tells you how to re-set the pin number.

If the pin number is not working, maybe somebody in your home or office has re-set the number.

You could have a piece of concealed paper with the information, or have it on a pinboard which cannot be seen from a window. Or turn the router around and photograph it (I tried that but my picture was out of focus). Or write it down in a password book, or write it on a piece of paper which you later shred.

Settings on Your Mobile Phone
Settings - Changing how your mobile phone works. Click on settings and various options come up, including times and dates, sounds for the ringtone. You can choose from the options of ringtones, or import your own unique tune so when you are in a supermarket or public place you know it's your phone, not somebody else with the same ringtone. If you have two phones, you can have different ringtones, so you know immediately if its work related or personal, your home country phone meaning it's the family, or the one you use overseas.

Anything you want to change, look at settings. Every now and then, when you are doing nothing else, have a look at settings. Maybe something you never used before will be useful.

Alarms
On holiday or a business trip, maybe the alarm you set at home is waking you up too early on a holiday and you can change it. Maybe you need a new alarm to catch a plane or remember an important meeting.

On Planes
Settings is also the first place to look to shut down your mobile on a plane, turn your phone on again or turn on the wifi or roaming, cancel roaming so you don't get charged, and so on.

Recording Instructions
If you are a bit blank about phones and keep forgetting, and somebody else has the same phone, record them instructing you. Re-play the instructions until you remember them or get the lightbulb moment when you see the logic.

Calling Applecare in the UK
Have you Applecare helpline number for the laptop in your mobile phone so you can call them when your laptop fails.

You get a recorded message asking which device you are calling about. Is it a mobile phone, which model, a laptop, the Pro or The Air. (Why? They probably have one person dealing with and trained in each product.)

How To Find The Model Number
Next, they want the model number. You can find this by clicking on the apple symbol and going into the about my Mac section.

If your screen is blank, you cannot do this! They tell you that alternatively, look at the box the machine came in.

Or you or a colleague or family member might have written down the number in a password book, on a pinboard, a file on your possessions, your tax and invoices file, somewhere else.

Don't panic. Stay calm. Finally, they offer you the option to go ahead without the information, warning you that the first thing the company will want to do is learn the model number. They will also want to check your name and address or other details to confirm it's really your machine.

Online Help
After you have spoken to Apple, you will get a follow-up case number, later a question asking how your session went and was your problem solved.

Other Laptops And Phones
Most problems can be solved by a process of elimination. If you have the instructions for one type of phone or laptop, you can probably work out what to do with another. is somebody else can't help with your machine, ask what they do when theirs goes wrong.

I shall deal with another brand of phone next month.

Glossary
PC Personal computer.
Router - a little box like a switchboard which connects your laptop(s) to the outside world.

Settings - symbol on iphone looks like a circle with battlements. Lets you set the alarm, screen, sound, lots of other things.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, speaker and author. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Losing and Finding Photos On Your Phone or Laptop

Problems
1 I just took a photo. How do I share it?
2 I've lost yesterday's photo. Where is it?

Answers
The cause of your problem could be:
Too many photos. Your laptop or phone has reached its limit.

Photos on Phones
What you can do:
To make space
1 Delete your unwanted out of focus photos and pictures of your feet or thumbs. Easier to get rid of them now than have them cluttering up the place.

I have found that if I delete photos in the phone before loading up to the laptop, that saves time and space. Otherwise, I have to delete in both places, despite being asked if I want to delete on all devices, it just doesn't happen.

Having the originals stored for a month is handy if you delete by mistake or change your mind. But I keep deleting. Then next time when the laptop asks if I want to import all, all the deleted photos and duplicates are added and my laptop is overloaded.

I ignore warning. Sometimes eventually the photos storage is so full that it crashes. Then I can't delete photos to rectify the problem.

Backups
Before doing any major overhall of the photo system orgniaation, you should backup the lot of your photos library. That could mean backing up it overnight because it takes a long time. You don't want to interrupt it.

2 Learn how to use the two-storage systems on your phone. You should have a main disc. You may have bought supplementary storage at the start in the shop, or ordered it online later. When one system is full, you can switch to the other.

Find out how to do it, make the switch. When you are in the shop and buying it, ask.

Make a note of the intructions. Or find the instructions online and email them to yourself.

To Share Photos
Find the share a photo symbol under the photo on a phone or at the top of yourscreen on an ipad or laptop. It is usually an upward arrow. Select mail. You can share with another phone.

Alternatively, either email direct to the person whose photo you have taken if they are standing beside you. Or email it to yourself and then email it to them.

If you cannot connect your phone to your laptop via icloud, mail the photo to yourself and then drag it or save it to your iphoto or other photo storage system.

Lost Photo?
I hunted all over my photos and date hunts. Then I simply went into finder and found my missing photo.

Labelling and Saving
When I upload a photo, whether from my phone or the internet, I immedately label it with as many words as I can think of which I might use later in a search. For example, casa mia restaurant. I don't just label it Casa Mia, which is already labelled in the phto because I photographed the restaurant frontage. I lable it, casa Mia, Italian, restaurant, Hatch End, Pinner, London, England.

I might have several photos of the restaurant. To save time finding the right one, I add another description or two or three,  such as: wine bottle, glass of wine, dessert, manager, outside, inside, menu, decor. The date could also be useful.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Where can you put your holiday pictures? On your address card, mug or duvet cover and more

Problem
Where can you put your holiday pictures?

For Yourself:
1 As wallpaper on your phone or laptop.
2 In a picture book.
3 On the cover of a notebook, such as one used for your next travel trip. Use a single photo or a collage.

For Others To See
1 As the homepage of your website.
2 In Vistaprint on caps, tee-shirts, bags, notebook covers, your own business address cards, mouse pads, posters, calendars, magnets and wedding invitations.
3 Facebook - on a profile page or in updating regularly.
4 Twitter
5 LinkedIn

6 Instagram - divided by subjects or countries.
7 Pinterest - divided by subjects or countries.

8 Able-label - put family photos or holiday photos on mugs, tee-shirts and other items, for a birthday or Easter gift.
9 The cover of your novel or other self-published book.
10 The cover of a box file in which you store your holiday brochures for a particular country.

11 Mobile phone case covers personalised with your photo from Pixum.
12 Sell photos

13 Tesco supermarket greeting cards from your photo
14 Boots cards from your photos

15 Personalised duvet cover from your photo - half a dozen companies do this at various prices, from about £60, plus postage.

16 Pillows, playing cards, and many more items from Smart Photo company.
17 Getting Personal will make you a label from a photo on a bottle of Prosecco or Champagne, a diary, a slate photoframe, a magnetic photoframe, and many more gifts, personalised with a photo or a name. For all occasions, such as Christmas, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, 50th Birthday, Christening, baby photo, wedding gift,  and many more.

18 Personalised gifts using your photos or text include aprons, photo boxes and others from amazon.co.uk
19 Pillow cases, coasters, photo mugs and more from Amazon.com.

20 Personalised key rings from photos or with names or cutout in nymerous styles, or cushions and other goods from ebay.
21 Etsy artistic suppliers will make your cat photo key ring, or pencils and square pencil tumblers with children's names on them.

CAKES
22 Personalised cake with your photo, from a small cake at £12.50 in vanilla or chocolate, to a large cake, or a set of edible photos on rice paper to stick on cup cakes. The best and most impressive was the photo of my face on a big cake, although I was not impressed by the quality of the cake it looked impressive. I had it made once with a photo of my face and once with a photo of my book.

Then we went off cakes and onto dieting. So I economised and ordered the cupcake labels but they were so small that your name obscured the picture of your face. You have to look carefully how the name and face are positioned. It might be better to order two sets, one with faces, another with messages such as happy birthday or a name.  Cut up the message and stick it on the cake separately.

Useful Websites
https://www.able-labels.co.uk/photo-mugs/
https://www.vistaprint.co.uk/photo-gifts?txi=16602&xnid=TopNav_Photo+Gifts&xnav=TopNav
https://www.pixum.co.uk/cases/smartphone?search
https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/make-money/side-gigs/sell-your-photos-online/
https://www.tescophoto.com/photo_greeting_cards
https://www.bootsphoto.com/photo-gift/photo-cards
https://www.bagsoflove.co.uk/blankets/personalised-duvet-covers.
https://www.smartphoto.co.uk/photo-gifts
https://www.gettingpersonal.co.uk/gifts/sale?page=5
https://www.amazon.co.uk/slp/personalised-gifts-using-photos/
https://www.amazon.com/slp/personalized-photo-gifts/
http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/personalised-gifts-keyring
https://www.etsy.com/featured/personalised-gifts-
https://www.yumbles.com/the-boutique-cupcake-company/photo-logo-letterbox-cake.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Carnivals Worldwide and Summer Sundays in London, Singapore or DC, the The Sunday Times, Silverstone, and Notting Hill Carnival On Mobile Phones

West Indian Parade or Labor Day parade, first Monday in September, New York, USA. Photo by Shankbone. From Wikipedia.

Problem
Where to go? What to do?

Bank Holiday in the UK and I am waiting to see the Notting Hill Carnival on TV iplayer and checking on Carnivals around the world.

In the UK my family have gone to Silverstone. I haven't gone to Silverstone. The ticket price is too high - about £75 per person and up. (Plus parking. They bought tickets for the event months ago but forgot about parking which would have been cheaper in advance. They spent a long time trying to book parking on line yesterday, Saturday, the day before the event, without success. You could book online for today, yesterday, Saturday, but not for tomorrow, Sunday.)

We have already paid for the sports TV. So they can watch TV whilst being at the show, as well as later.

Notting Hill Carnival. Photo from Wikipedia.

Meanwhile, back in London, England, Notting Hill Carnival is free. So is watching on TV.

These are one off events.

Every Sunday in England, Britain, we can fill our day reading The Sunday Times, the British version. You can subscribe to it on line for a fee. (I am currently using online without spaces as an adjective but without spaces as a noun. Go on line to watch online events and read online newspapers.)

The British Sunday Times can keep you busy for easily an hour or two.

Sunday In Singapore
In Singapore the same goes for Singapore's big Sunday newspaper. It is summer weather in London so you can sit in the garden or go to a park or a pub for Sunday lunch. In Singapore, most people live in flats and condos. You could sit on a balcony or go out to a park for a walk. I find the weather too hot and humid for outdoors in Singapore. I look for a swimming pool in a condo, a country club pool or a public pool. The trouble is they often close off the condo and country club swimming pools on National holidays for a BBQ by the pool with the local member of parliament or a swimming competition or another paid for ticketed event.

Singapore's National Day parade is annually on August 9th. Also see Fireworks on New Year's Eve., parades on New Year's Day; other festivities in areas such as Little India for Diwali and cultural and religious celebrations including Hindu Thaipusan in January or February.

Sunday in the USA
In America you also have public paths and across of woods, all along the East coast, everywhere. Although some of the major parks have tolls, there are plenty which don't.

When we lived in Rockville, Maryland, near, north of Washington DC, we would get in the car after work on Friday evening and head out along the motorway along the East Coast Parkway for a weekend away through the woods. More than fifty states to see, south through Virginia, North and South Carolina, Florida, Atlanta, New Orleans, or north to Pennsylvania and up towards New York.

The 24 hour all day stops and breakfasts and 24 hour supermarkets in the USA always provided us with plenty of budget food, and out of town family run, owned by 'mom and pop' motels.

Living Overseas
If you have travelled to another country to live or for a short break, you can look at local free newspapers in hotels and restaurants or dropped through the door of your bedroom or condo for events. Google maps to find the nearest outdoor park.

I try to get outdoors for a short walk every day (if I can't swim). I wear very cover up clothing and my latest annual check up told me I was short on vitamin D. That's what happens if you wear clothing covering everything except your face and feet and hands, whether you do it for religious reasons or to protect yourself from sand and dust and mosquitos and melanoma.

Lazy Sunday in London, England
Restaurants in London have their tables out on the pavement. A great way to spend Sunday, outdoors, Sunday brunch, watching the world go by. Time to stop snoozing and go out in the sun.

Two members of my family and a friend in London are off to Silverstone - a trace track on a converted air field, like so many race tracks. They have taken the current  Sunday Times. A combination of sport and culture.

What can we read? Motor Cycle News British MOTGP Preview, a 32 page Silverstone guide. Waitrose weekend, the supermarket's free newspaper, or an old copy of The Sunday Times.

Notting Hill Carnival
I am looking at Notting Hill Carnival on TV from afar, a British tradition started in 1966. The Sixties. The great music era.

The public can buy face paint and dress up at the last minute. But the carnival dancers and singers have been planning, practising, and making matching costumes all year. No wonder they didn't want to cancel or change the venue. Time to stop snoozing and go out in the sun.

Notting Hill Carnival. From Wikipedia.

Watching Events On Phones
If you are out and about, watching major events on your mobile phone, if you have two phones of different sizes, (or an iPad or laptop) as well as your mobile, you may wish to switch to the phone or device with the larger screen.

Sometimes the SIM cards are tied to the phone. If not, you have a choice. Load up the aps you need when switching phones or to an iPad or laptop. Check before leaving home. Take the other phone with you in case of problems.

What else can you do out and about or home alone?

Notting Hill Carnival
I can't understand why they don't have the whole day of the Carnival on the news continually. I think it's the cost. London Live broadcast starts at 4 pm Sunday Aug 27.
However, I have found some great pictures.

http://www.itv.com/news/london/2016-08-29/in-pictures-best-of-notting-hill-carnival-2016-grand-finale/

A video on the preparations and theme with Green For Grenfell (nearby skyscraper fire in which more than 80 people lost their lives), and dinosaurs in green.
http://www.londonlive.co.uk/news/2017-08-24/mahogany-arts-prepare-for-notting-hill-carnival-2017

Home Alone?
Watch the film Notting Hill. Nothing to do with the carnival, but a light hearted comedy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notting_Hill_(film)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/stickyjerkwingswiths_91690

If you can't attend, what's next in the tourist calendar?
For anybody whose family have birthdays in January, February or August, that's the birthday party or present sorted.

Masked Lovers. Carnevale di Venezia 2010. Photo by Frank Kovalchek in Wikipedia.

Carnival in Venice, January 2018.
Carnival in Rio, Brazil, 2018.

VENICE, Italy. Carnival 2018 Jan 27-Feb 13.
https://www.getyourguide.com/ (Events and making masks)
http://www.carnival-in-venice.eu/ (Masked ball in Venice)
http://www.italia.it/en/home.html
http://www.visit-plus.com/ Gives dates and information.

Rio BRAZIL.
Friday 9 Feb - Wed 14 Feb 2018.
http://www.riocarnaval.org/carnival-date/rio-carnival-2018.html

Samba parade at the Sambódrome, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo from Michael Baldwin from Wikipedia.

USA and Worldwide
New York, NY state, USA, West Indian Day parade, on Labor Day, First Monday in September. (Monday Sept 5 2017.)
Wikipedia has lists of carnivals in the USA, New York, New Orleans and around the world. In England even Leicester has a carnival.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras_in_New_Orleans

www.waitrose.com For supermarket addresses, opening times on Sunday, and Waitrose Weekend newspaper.
thesundaytimes.co.uk £2.50, £2 to subscribers, free from Waitrose with a minimum spend and loyalty card.
www.silverstone.co.uk for ticket prices and packages or call ticket hotline tel:0844 375 0740.
www.motorcyclenews.com See the MCN events page for Auto Jumbles, Bike Meets, Drag Racing, Enduro, Exhibitions, Festivals, Grass Track, Hillclimb, Long Track, Motocross, Rallies, Rideouts, Riding Schools, Road Racing, Shows, Sidecar Racing, Speedway, Trials, Track Days, World Record Attempts.
www.Facebook.com/MSVTrackdays

Travel and Tourism
BRAZIL
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/brazil
http://www.rio-carnival.net/sambodromo/sambadrome_tickets.php

ITALY
http://www.italia.it/en/home.html

SINGAPORE
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaipusam
www.visitsingapore.com

UK
www.visitbritain.org
www.visitlondon.com

USA
https://www.visittheusa.co.uk/
https://www.nycgo.com Official page. Other websites offer discount passes.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. I have other posts on Notting Hill, Silverstone and Rossi, Italy (Perugia), learning Spanish and Italian and many more destinations and languages. See previous posts and see next post. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Adding foreign Accents On Phones

Why do you need accents? What is their purpose? To distinguish one sound from another, and two words whose spelling is the same although they are pronounced differently.

Problems
1 You want to add a foreign accent to a word in a text on a phone. Strictly speaking the way you speak is your accent, the little dot or line or hat above a vowel or the squiggle over the letter n in Spanish, written by hand or typed, is known as a diacritic. That is the word to type in your search in Wikipedia or on the internet.
2 You are answering questions on a language course, such as Duolingo, where you are marked wrong when you have not inserted the accent.

Answers
1 On both a laptop and a mobile phone you make the selection of accents appear by holding down the key for longer.

 On a computer keyboard or laptop you may need to select the key for the accent by pressing simultaneously or selecting the number above the accent chosen.

According to Wikipedia, certain words such as resume can be typed without the accent.  

Tips
1 Search on the internet for adding accents.

2 Search on the internet for adding accents - adding the brand of your phone. For example, Apple, Apple 4s, Apple 5s, Apple 6s; LG, Oppo, Samsung, Sony Xperia.

3 On a mobile phone the instruction is to slide your finger. Sliding can be difficult on a small screen.

If you take your finger off the key for a vowel and try to click on the pop up of vowels with accents, the pop up disappears before you reach it. Removing your finger signals to the screen that you have finished. Keep your fingertip in contact with the screen.

Useful Website

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diacritic

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and English teacher. See my books and profiles on Amazon, Lulu.com, Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube.

Sh - how to open your laptop without disturbing others

Problem
You open your laptop and it disturbs others. It is an embarrassment if you are in a meeting and there's a speaker addressing the meeting and you are in the audience and have been asked to turn off mobiles and any devices which makes sounds. The same thing can be annoying if others are sleeping and you have jet lag and want to get up and use your laptop and it suddenly goes ping. You might want to
1 Disable the sound on an older laptop when travelling.
2 Install the sound when returning home.
3 Install the sound on later models of laptops which have no sound.
4 Install the sound for security reasons.

Answer
https://pingie.com/2016/10/31/how-to-enable-the-startup-chime-on-the-2016-macbook-pros/

This website tells you how to turn the machine noise on opening on and off. However, it might be useful to turn the sound back on if you want to be sure somebody else is not using a laptop. For example, children supposed to be sleeping. The latest laptops have disabled the sound. If you have an earlier model, or want to restore the sound on a later model, you can do so by installing a code.

The sound of the ping is F sharp.

Story
I opened my laptop on my last overnight trip on a plane. It was a nuisance because I was afraid I had disturbed the person sitting next to me. The noise seemed so loud I thought it could also annoy people behind, in front and across the aisle! This is a nuisance when you are travelling overnight on a plane and others are sleeping.

Tip
Keep a file of things you need for your computer and mobile phone when travelling or relocating. Send the link to yourself in an email with the model of your laptop in the subject line. Create a file with the brand of your machine. If you can't remember the file, just search for the laptop model number in your email inbox on either your laptop or mobile. To ensure you have access, have your emails stored in the cloud. If you do not use the cloud for security reasons, you can print out the information and keep it in your hand bag or briefcase or carry on bag or jacket pocket, or hand a duplicate to a family member or colleague.
You can also bookmark the information and sign up for updates from the websites.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Author of How to get out of the mess you're in. See my books on Amazon.com and Lulu.com Please like, follow and share my posts.

Saving and Sharing Your Drawing From iPad to Phone, Laptop and Instagram

If you have created a drawing on an iPad in an Apple store, or on your own iPad, you may want to save it and transfer it to your mobile phone or laptop and then share it. How?

You can transfer it via a bluetooth connection to your phone.

I had joined Instagram on one of my devices, but had to rejoin it for the other device.

I sent my photo to a website but it arrived sideways and with the artist's signature partly missing.

Once the photo was loaded up, I could not change it. I had to delete it. Send it to my laptop. I had it in downloads. I slid it across to iPhoto. I then changed the direction, made it smaller so my signature was visible, and created more contrast.

Because I was in a workshop which was coming to an end, I had to work quickly. If I had had more time I would have achieved a better result, as you could if you spent time.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, caricaturist, author and speaker.