First update to today's to-do list

• Take Visible reading - 1 out of 5 today
• Use blood pressure machine
• Put details onto spreadsheet
• Put BP machine away
• Drink glass of water
• Take morning pills
• Take paracetamol
• Run daily virus scan - it found an advanced issue which is now resolved
• Come up with a tag line for my memoir - I've potentially come up with one at last
• Study at least one course
• Listen to podcasts
• Listen to playlists
• Turn on air purifier
• Read and review a book
• Add more books to my TBR pile
• Ask Alexa to play Baroque music/the radio
• Check forum
• Announce birthdays if necessary
• Get washed and dressed
• Make breakfast of Weetabix, soya milk and juice/water
• Take photo of breakfast
• Put photo of breakfast on here and Instagram
• Wash up
• Collapse up OddBox box ready for Sunday
• Check all the monthly bills have come out of my account
• Have caffeinated coffee
• Unpack and put together file and pockets
• Put OddBox recipes into pockets
• Put file into it's temporary home
• Take another paracetamol at 9.30am if necessary
• Contact bank about Steve's statements for last year of his life
• Get Steve's bank statements for all of 2022
• Keep an eye on emails about the digital switchover
• Find out about most secure locks from insurers - I've emailed so just waiting for their reply now - they don't advise apparently so I've just gotta do my own research - it's gonna be a BS3621 5-lever mortice deadlock
• Request quotes for 2 new outside doors on Check A Trade (front door MUST be wood and have a letter box with a BS3621 5-lever mortice deadlock)
• Ask M to bring box of stuff to Freegle downstairs so that I can...
• Take photos of unwanted things in the spare room
• Advertise spare room things on Freegle
• Weigh myself every Monday
• Do morning laps
• Do 75 morning sit-ups
• Do 35 morning crunches
• Do 75 twists
• Housework - Monday - change bedding & bring in rubbish/recycling
• Housework - Tuesday - tidy living room & groceries & clear caches
• Housework - Wednesday - clean bathroom
• Housework - Thursday - sweep carpets
• Housework - Friday - tidy bedrooms
• Housework - Saturday - clean kitchen
• Housework - Sunday - rubbish and recycling/refill dosette box
• Put menu up on blog every weekend
• Send reviewers my book if they agree
• Keep my fingers crossed they enjoy and positively review my memoir
• Keep an eye on Freegle to see if anyone wants anything
• Keep an eye on Olio to see if anyone wants the radiator or seat cushion or oranges
• Keep an eye on Freecycle to see if anyone wants anything
• Make lunch of salad
• Take photo of lunch
• Put photo of lunch on here and Instagram
• Do washing up
• Take lunchtime pill
• Refill dosette box every Sunday
• Do afternoon laps
• Do sit-ups in hall
• Do crunches in hall
• Put OddBox container in front of the door on Sunday
• Wait for service certificate for ASHP - I've just emailed them to chase it up - I heard from them this morning and they have forwarded my message onto the most appropriate department, so I've just gotta be patient now
• Email service certificate to home insurers
• Make tea of soup
• Take photo of tea
• Bring tea through to the living room
• Put photo of tea on here and Instagram
• Do washing up
• There's chocolate multipacks in the fridge
• As well as choccie raisins too
• And loads of soft drinks
• And dried fruit and nuts in the tubs
• Study my courses (starting at the bottom of the page)
• Post about something I'm grateful for today
• Download, resize and save BP machine photos
• Put 6 days' worth of BP photos onto my health site
• Put blood pressure spreadsheet onto health site on the last day of each month
• Take evening pills
• Go to bed

Today's (15th May 2026) to-do list

• Take Visible reading - 1 out of 5 today
• Use blood pressure machine
• Put details onto spreadsheet
• Put BP machine away
• Drink glass of water
• Take morning pills
• Take paracetamol
• Run daily virus scan - it found an advanced issue which is now resolved
• Come up with a tag line for my memoir - I've potentially come up with one at last
• Study at least one course
• Listen to podcasts
• Listen to playlists
• Turn on air purifier
• Read and review a book
• Add more books to my TBR pile
• Ask Alexa to play Baroque music/the radio
• Check forum
• Announce birthdays if necessary
• Get washed and dressed
• Make breakfast of Weetabix, soya milk and juice/water
• Take photo of breakfast
• Put photo of breakfast on here and Instagram
• Wash up
• Collapse up OddBox box ready for Sunday
• Check all the monthly bills have come out of my account
• Have caffeinated coffee
• Unpack and put together file and pockets
• Put OddBox recipes into pockets
• Put file into it's temporary home
• Take another paracetamol at 9.30am if necessary
• Contact bank about Steve's statements for last year of his life
• Get Steve's bank statements for all of 2022
• Keep an eye on emails about the digital switchover
• Find out about most secure locks from insurers - I've emailed so just waiting for their reply now - they don't advise apparently so I've just gotta do my own research - it's gonna be a BS3621 5-lever mortice deadlock
• Request quotes for 2 new outside doors on Check A Trade (front door MUST be wood and have a letter box with a BS3621 5-lever mortice deadlock)
• Ask M to bring box of stuff to Freegle downstairs so that I can...
• Take photos of unwanted things in the spare room
• Advertise spare room things on Freegle
• Weigh myself every Monday
• Do morning laps
• Do 75 morning sit-ups
• Do 35 morning crunches
• Do 75 twists
• Housework - Monday - change bedding & bring in rubbish/recycling
• Housework - Tuesday - tidy living room & groceries & clear caches
• Housework - Wednesday - clean bathroom
• Housework - Thursday - sweep carpets
• Housework - Friday - tidy bedrooms
• Housework - Saturday - clean kitchen
• Housework - Sunday - rubbish and recycling/refill dosette box
• Put menu up on blog every weekend
• Send reviewers my book if they agree
• Keep my fingers crossed they enjoy and positively review my memoir
• Keep an eye on Freegle to see if anyone wants anything
• Keep an eye on Olio to see if anyone wants the radiator or seat cushion or oranges
• Keep an eye on Freecycle to see if anyone wants anything
• Make lunch of salad
• Take photo of lunch
• Put photo of lunch on here and Instagram
• Do washing up
• Take lunchtime pill
• Refill dosette box every Sunday
• Do afternoon laps
• Do sit-ups in hall
• Do crunches in hall
• Put OddBox container in front of the door on Sunday
• Wait for service certificate for ASHP - I've just emailed them to chase it up - I heard from them this morning and they have forwarded my message onto the most appropriate department, so I've just gotta be patient now
• Email service certificate to home insurers
• Make tea of soup
• Take photo of tea
• Bring tea through to the living room
• Put photo of tea on here and Instagram
• Do washing up
• There's chocolate multipacks in the fridge
• As well as choccie raisins too
• And loads of soft drinks
• And dried fruit and nuts in the tubs
• Study my courses (starting at the bottom of the page)
• Post about something I'm grateful for today
• Download, resize and save BP machine photos
• Put 6 days' worth of BP photos onto my health site
• Put blood pressure spreadsheet onto health site on the last day of each month
• Take evening pills
• Go to bed

Today's (15th May 2026) breakfast photo

My neck and shoulder are still killing me, so I decided against having anything solid for breakfast in case I dropped it, so my breakfast today was just my usual 500ml glass of water to take my morning pills with and I've got a second glass on the go now too, to keep me hydrated.

Here's today's breakfast photo:

Mornin' all

Well, it feels like I've barely slept because of the pain and my phone ran out of battery power overnight so it's getting some emergency juice.  I've got a Visible score of 1 out of 5 today, so won't be lapping or exercising and I've popped a paracetamol this morning, then set a reminder on Alexa to take another one in 5 hours time.

I've popped my morning pills (including the paracetamol), run the virus scan (which found an advanced issue) and had 2 bananas for breakfast along with a second glass of water.  I can't remember what I use the big knife for when I make my salads, but I'm gonna take things gently today.

I've decided against tidying the bedrooms and getting washed and changed until the pain has stopped, however long that takes.

Time to get today's breakfast photo up, then my day's to-do list then read another book methinks.  I'm pondering on phoning the pharmacy to see if they've got any other ideas about how to stop the pain, but I hate using the phone and I can't get down there if they suggest a treatment, so is it really worth it in the end?

BBS

Nite nite orl

The entire upper left quarter of my body has been stiff and sore all day, so I haven't been able to do much today so just read my way through a really useful book.  I'm hoping to do a bit more sorting out in the spare room tomorrow if the pain and stiffness has stopped and/or putting my new file together with the pockets so that I can put the OddBox recipes into it to keep them all safe and in one place.

I also wanna get washed and changed, hopefully without breaking my new Visible as long as my body has stopped being so stiff and sore in the morning.

I've popped my last two pills of the day and I'm gonna head on up to beddy-byes now.

I'll see you all in the morning.

Nite nite orl

Third and final update to today's to-do list

• Take Visible reading - 3 out of 5 again today
• Use blood pressure machine
• Put details onto spreadsheet
• Put BP machine away
• Drink glass of water
• Take morning pills
• Run daily virus scan
• Come up with a tag line for my memoir - I've potentially come up with one at last
• Study at least one course
• Listen to podcasts
• Listen to playlists
• Turn on air purifier
• Read and review a book - up to page 34 of 51 - aaaand it's finished
• Add more books to my TBR pile
• Ask Alexa to play Baroque music/the radio
• Check forum
• Announce birthdays if necessary
• Get washed and dressed
• Make breakfast of Weetabix, soya milk and juice/water
• Take photo of breakfast
• Put photo of breakfast on here and Instagram
• Wash up
• Have caffeinated coffee
• Unpack and put together file and pockets
• Put OddBox recipes into pockets
• Put file into it's temporary home
• Edit and upload FitBit page for the last time
• Contact bank about Steve's statements for last year of his life
• Get Steve's bank statements for all of 2022
• Keep an eye on emails about the digital switchover
• Find out about most secure locks from insurers - I've emailed so just waiting for their reply now - they don't advise apparently so I've just gotta do my own research - it's gonna be a BS3621 5-lever mortice deadlock
• Request quotes for 2 new outside doors on Check A Trade (front door MUST be wood and have a letter box with a BS3621 5-lever mortice deadlock)
• Ask M to bring box of stuff to Freegle downstairs so that I can...
• Take photos of unwanted things in the spare room
• Advertise spare room things on Freegle
• Weigh myself every Monday
• Do morning laps
• Do 75 morning sit-ups
• Do 35 morning crunches
• Do 75 twists
• Housework - Monday - change bedding & bring in rubbish/recycling
• Housework - Tuesday - tidy living room & groceries & clear caches
• Housework - Wednesday - clean bathroom
• Housework - Thursday - sweep carpets
• Housework - Friday - tidy bedrooms
• Housework - Saturday - clean kitchen
• Housework - Sunday - rubbish and recycling/refill dosette box
• Put menu up on blog every weekend
• Send reviewers my book if they agree
• Keep my fingers crossed they enjoy and positively review my memoir
• Keep an eye on Freegle to see if anyone wants anything - the kitchen things went just before lunch
• Keep an eye on Olio to see if anyone wants the radiator or seat cushion or kitchen things - there's interest in the kitchen things now - just the radiator and cushion (non-food-wise) and the oranges (food-wise) left now 
• Keep an eye on Freecycle to see if anyone wants anything - someone is interested - they didn't reply yesterday so I've sent them another message - too late now
• Make lunch of salad
• Take photo of lunch
• Put photo of lunch on here and Instagram
• Do washing up
• Take lunchtime pill
• Refill dosette box every Sunday
• Do afternoon laps
• Do sit-ups in hall
• Do crunches in hall
• Put OddBox container in front of the door on Sunday
• Wait for service certificate for ASHP - I've just emailed them to chase it up - I heard from them this morning and they have forwarded my message onto the most appropriate department, so I've just gotta be patient now
• Email service certificate to home insurers
• Make tea of soup
• Take photo of tea
• Bring tea through to the living room
• Put photo of tea on here and Instagram
• Do washing up
• There's chocolate multipacks in the fridge
• As well as choccie raisins too
• And loads of soft drinks
• And dried fruit and nuts in the tubs
• Study my courses (starting at the bottom of the page)
• Post about something I'm grateful for today
• Download, resize and save BP machine photos
• Put 6 days' worth of BP photos onto my health site
• Put blood pressure spreadsheet onto health site on the last day of each month
• Take evening pills
• Go to bed

Today (14th May 2026) I'm grateful for...

...crawling through the day despite the constant agony in my neck, shoulder and upper arm today.

I'm also grateful that the first book I found and borrowed about my Alexa gave me so many things that I can say to her now.

I also found out this morning that my Visible is waterproof, so I'll be able, pain permitting of course, to get washed and changed tomorrow morning.

And finally, I'm grateful that the kitchen stuff was picked up at last, so I've got more room to do more tidying up in the spare room as soon as my pain and stiffness is better.

Second update to today's to-do list

• Take Visible reading - 3 out of 5 again today
• Use blood pressure machine
• Put details onto spreadsheet
• Put BP machine away
• Drink glass of water
• Take morning pills
• Run daily virus scan
• Come up with a tag line for my memoir - I've potentially come up with one at last
• Study at least one course
• Listen to podcasts
• Listen to playlists
• Turn on air purifier
• Read and review a book - up to page 34 of 51 - aaaand it's finished
• Add more books to my TBR pile
• Ask Alexa to play Baroque music/the radio
• Check forum
• Announce birthdays if necessary
• Get washed and dressed
• Make breakfast of Weetabix, soya milk and juice/water
• Take photo of breakfast
• Put photo of breakfast on here and Instagram
• Wash up
• Have caffeinated coffee
• Edit and upload FitBit page for the last time
• Contact bank about Steve's statements for last year of his life
• Get Steve's bank statements for all of 2022
• Keep an eye on emails about the digital switchover
• Find out about most secure locks from insurers - I've emailed so just waiting for their reply now - they don't advise apparently so I've just gotta do my own research - it's gonna be a BS3621 5-lever mortice deadlock
• Request quotes for 2 new outside doors on Check A Trade (front door MUST be wood and have a letter box with a BS3621 5-lever mortice deadlock)
• Ask M to bring box of stuff to Freegle downstairs so that I can...
• Take photos of unwanted things in the spare room
• Advertise spare room things on Freegle
• Weigh myself every Monday
• Do morning laps
• Do 75 morning sit-ups
• Do 35 morning crunches
• Do 75 twists
• Housework - Monday - change bedding & bring in rubbish/recycling
• Housework - Tuesday - tidy living room & groceries & clear caches
• Housework - Wednesday - clean bathroom
• Housework - Thursday - sweep carpets
• Housework - Friday - tidy bedrooms
• Housework - Saturday - clean kitchen
• Housework - Sunday - rubbish and recycling/refill dosette box
• Put menu up on blog every weekend
• Send reviewers my book if they agree
• Keep my fingers crossed they enjoy and positively review my memoir
• Keep an eye on Freegle to see if anyone wants anything - the kitchen things went just before lunch
• Keep an eye on Olio to see if anyone wants the radiator or seat cushion or kitchen things - there's interest in the kitchen things now - just the radiator and cushion (non-food-wise) and the oranges (food-wise) left now 
• Keep an eye on Freecycle to see if anyone wants anything - someone is interested - they didn't reply yesterday so I've sent them another message - too late now
• Make lunch of salad
• Take photo of lunch
• Put photo of lunch on here and Instagram
• Do washing up
• Take lunchtime pill
• Refill dosette box every Sunday
• Do afternoon laps
• Do sit-ups in hall
• Do crunches in hall
• Put OddBox container in front of the door on Sunday
• Wait for service certificate for ASHP - I've just emailed them to chase it up - I heard from them this morning and they have forwarded my message onto the most appropriate department, so I've just gotta be patient now
• Email service certificate to home insurers
• Make tea of soup
• Take photo of tea
• Bring tea through to the living room
• Put photo of tea on here and Instagram
• Do washing up
• There's chocolate multipacks in the fridge
• As well as choccie raisins too
• And loads of soft drinks
• And dried fruit and nuts in the tubs
• Study my courses (starting at the bottom of the page)
• Post about something I'm grateful for today
• Download, resize and save BP machine photos
• Put 6 days' worth of BP photos onto my health site
• Put blood pressure spreadsheet onto health site on the last day of each month
• Take evening pills
• Go to bed

Book Review: "Amazon Alexa: Amazon Alexa: Quick Reference Guide" by Steve Wright

Kindle Unlimited
⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

Every book I've read and reviewed recently has started off with me saying that each book starts off with the full 5 stars and I'm always hopeful that they'll all still be stuck firmly in place by the time I close the back cover.

I bought my first ever Alexa a few months ago and I've been very limited in what I've asked her to do so far, so I'm hoping that this book will give me a few ideas of things I can ask her to do.  I've already set her up, so I'm really hoping this isn't a book telling me how to do that!

Let's get going shall we?

I'm up to page 3 and in those pages, the author has gone from saying that Alexa is "more than just a speaker" on the first page to saying that she *is* just a speaker on page 3... the first star is already coming off for being so confused already and waffling on selling me and other readers the device that we've already got and advertising his mailing list on the first page too!

Apparently Alexa can "Open the Door, Switch on the Light or Play Music" but the author doesn't tell you that those things have to be connected smart devices!  I can't just ask my Echo Dot to open the door or adjust my central heating because neither of those are connected smart devices for me!  The second star is coming off only a page after I removed the first star... this isn't looking good!

At last!  Page 5 has given 5 I can ask my Alexa device, underneath the image that is too small for me to comfortably read - it's only taken 5 pages lol

I've got a lot more requests that I can give my Echo now, thankfully, so the stars are stable atm.

I'm now up to page 31 and I've found loads of things that I can ask Alexa to do, which I was hoping for and is exactly what I wanted.

Just finished reading it and it was more like 8 hours than 1 hour but I've got loads of things to say to Alexa now, which will hopefully keep me going for a while lol

First update to today's to-do list

• Take Visible reading - 3 out of 5 again today
• Use blood pressure machine
• Put details onto spreadsheet
• Put BP machine away
• Drink glass of water
• Take morning pills
• Run daily virus scan
• Come up with a tag line for my memoir - I've potentially come up with one at last
• Study at least one course
• Listen to podcasts
• Listen to playlists
• Turn on air purifier
• Read and review a book - up to page 34 of 51
• Add more books to my TBR pile
• Ask Alexa to play Baroque music/the radio
• Check forum
• Announce birthdays if necessary
• Get washed and dressed
• Make breakfast of Weetabix, soya milk and juice/water
• Take photo of breakfast
• Put photo of breakfast on here and Instagram
• Wash up
• Have caffeinated coffee
• Contact bank about Steve's statements for last year of his life
• Get Steve's bank statements for all of 2022
• Keep an eye on emails about the digital switchover
• Find out about most secure locks from insurers - I've emailed so just waiting for their reply now - they don't advise apparently so I've just gotta do my own research - it's gonna be a BS3621 5-lever mortice deadlock
• Request quotes for 2 new outside doors on Check A Trade (front door MUST be wood and have a letter box with a BS3621 5-lever mortice deadlock)
• Ask M to bring box of stuff to Freegle downstairs so that I can...
• Take photos of unwanted things in the spare room
• Advertise spare room things on Freegle
• Weigh myself every Monday
• Do morning laps
• Do 75 morning sit-ups
• Do 35 morning crunches
• Do 75 twists
• Housework - Monday - change bedding & bring in rubbish/recycling
• Housework - Tuesday - tidy living room & groceries & clear caches
• Housework - Wednesday - clean bathroom
• Housework - Thursday - sweep carpets
• Housework - Friday - tidy bedrooms
• Housework - Saturday - clean kitchen
• Housework - Sunday - rubbish and recycling/refill dosette box
• Put menu up on blog every weekend
• Send reviewers my book if they agree
• Keep my fingers crossed they enjoy and positively review my memoir
• Keep an eye on Freegle to see if anyone wants anything - the kitchen things went just before lunch
• Keep an eye on Olio to see if anyone wants the radiator or seat cushion or kitchen things - there's interest in the kitchen things now - just the radiator and cushion (non-food-wise) and the oranges (food-wise) left now 
• Keep an eye on Freecycle to see if anyone wants anything - someone is interested - they didn't reply yesterday so I've sent them another message - too late now
• Make lunch of salad
• Take photo of lunch
• Put photo of lunch on here and Instagram
• Do washing up
• Take lunchtime pill
• Refill dosette box every Sunday
• Do afternoon laps
• Do sit-ups in hall
• Do crunches in hall
• Put OddBox container in front of the door on Sunday
• Wait for service certificate for ASHP - I've just emailed them to chase it up - I heard from them this morning and they have forwarded my message onto the most appropriate department, so I've just gotta be patient now
• Email service certificate to home insurers
• Make tea of soup
• Take photo of tea
• Bring tea through to the living room
• Put photo of tea on here and Instagram
• Do washing up
• There's chocolate multipacks in the fridge
• As well as choccie raisins too
• And loads of soft drinks
• And dried fruit and nuts in the tubs
• Study my courses (starting at the bottom of the page)
• Post about something I'm grateful for today
• Download, resize and save BP machine photos
• Put 6 days' worth of BP photos onto my health site
• Put blood pressure spreadsheet onto health site on the last day of each month
• Take evening pills
• Go to bed