Mobile phones

It’s beginning to be a bit expensive…..

I knew that the work to connect my house to mains water was not going to be cheap as the house is set back quite some way from the road. In the end, it cost me CZK 30,500, about £1000 at current exchange rates, together with a further CZK 1000, paying František to complete the work the ‘chancers’, (thank you Sean, for your perfect terminology 😉 ), didn’t do.

I was also aware that once the house was connected to mains water, I would soon need to purchase a new washing machine. My existing machine was frequently failing to complete the set programme, in particular, stopping after one rinse. Therefore it was always impossible to go out whilst the washing machine was in use because of needing to keep it under close inspection and make manual changes.

I didn’t want to change it in advance of being connected to mains water as the discolouration of the previous water supply had left brown stains on various rubber parts. So I didn’t want to mess up a new washing machine in the same way. Therefore it was a perfect act of timing that, as soon as I tried to put a load of washing on, after I had been connected to my new mains supply on Sunday 25^th October 2020, the machine refused to even fill and commence the washing programme. I needed to buy a new washing machine.

At that time, we were in our second period of lockdown because of COVID-19, meaning that Datart, the electrical shop I would normally go to in Decín, was closed. So I went online to their website, all in Czech 😉 , and successfully ordered a new washing machine. This was available at there depot in nearby Liberec, with the promise of delivery the following Sunday, 1^st November 2020, in the afternoon.

The plumbing for a washing machine is in the same small room as my toilet. In January 2018, during the complete rebuilding of the adjacent shower room, the dividing wall between the two rooms was reconstructed. But since then, I have consistently put off redecorating the room because of the difficulties I could foresee of trying to paint behind the toilet, the hot water tank and all the exposed piping, as well as the washing machine itself.

The prospective arrival of a new washing machine gave me the necessary ‘kick up the backside’ that I needed. During the week without a functioning washing machine, I disconnected the old machine & moved it elsewhere, and then proceeded to redecorate the whole room. Fortunately, I had just enough white emulsion paint to complete the job.

The photograph above shows the space where the old washing machine once stood, with old sheets put down to protect the tiled floor during redecoration.

This photograph shows the same view with redecoration complete. You can just see the end of the toilet on the right of the photo.

New washing machine in place © Ricky Yates

And here is the new washing machine, plumbed in by me and washing its first load. The new machine is a narrower model than its predecessor which leaves a wider gap to pass through to reach the toilet. Cost CZK 12,189 / £400, plus the paint. Fortunately, the deal to buy the new washing machine included taking its predecessor away.

Whilst I was Priest-in-charge of St Clement’s Anglican Episcopal Church in Prague, the Chaplaincy flat where I lived had a landline phone, which enabled wifi for internet access. I also had a fairly simple mobile phone, proverbially known as ‘the Chaplaincy mobile’, which I took great delight in presenting to my successor at my farewell service.

Presenting the Chaplaincy Mobile Phone © Sybille Yates

With my new home in Stará Oleška not having a landline phone, but discovering I could obtain internet access by a wireless service from JAW.cz, I decided that all I would need following retirement, would be another very simple mobile phone. Like it or not, there is an expectation these days that everyone has a mobile phone, along with an email address, and ready access to the internet. I cannot log into my Czech bank account online, without a code being sent to my mobile phone. Nor can I pay for something by bank transfer, or use my debit card to purchase something online, without a code being sent to my mobile, to then be inserted online, to complete the transaction.

Chaplaincy mobile on left. My new mobile on right. Photo from April 2017 © Ricky Yates

My simple mobile phone has been fine for the past three and a half years. Unfortunately, I never discovered all the things it could do because the manual for it was only available in Czech, Slovak and German, and neither my Czech or German are good enough to understand phone manuals! But on Thursday 26^th November 2020, my mobile phone died. The screen went black and it couldn’t be revived.

Having been teased by a few friends, (who shall be nameless 😉 ), about my very simple mobile phone, I decided that this time I would buy something more advanced – a smart phone is, I believe, the correct term. Once more, with shops closed due to COVID-19, I was again forced to order online without any chance to try things out or ask questions.

Initially I thought I was in a Catch 22 situation. How could I pay for a new phone online, if I needed a code sent to my mobile phone that wasn’t functioning? I did eventually discover that it was possible on the Datart website, to order an item, but then pick it up and pay for it in person, by being part of a socially-distanced queue at their shop in Decín.

So that is what I did. A man in the T-Mobile office then successfully swapped my SIM card over allowing me to keep my old phone number and credit. And there is a manual in English for it online – all 261 pages! So far, I’ve only worked through the first fifty 🙂 Cost CZK 11,029 / £365.

Knowing that I was going to have spend Christmas 2020 in total isolation, I decided I would give myself a Christmas present. So during a short period before Christmas, between lockdown two & lockdown three, when all shops were open, I treated myself to a new CD player. My previous one died, just at the end of my time in Prague, and I had never got around to replacing it.

So over the Christmas and New Year period, I enjoyed listening to my CDs of Christmas carols. In particular, I listened several times, to my double CD of Bach’s Weihnachts Oratorium. Cost, a modest CZK 2490 / £82.

With the current pandemic, and being over 65 with a pre-existing health condition, I have become increasingly aware of my own mortality. During over thirty years of ordained ministry, I have on numerous occasions, spent time with bereaved relatives who amongst many things, were having to organise a funeral and deal with the estate of a deceased relative, with no idea of what their wishes were, because they had not made a will.

I made a will back in July 2008, under the law of England and Wales. With nearly all my assets now being in the Czech Republic, I have increasingly felt that I ought to make a fresh will that would be recognised under Czech law. Through a Facebook group of which I am a member, entitled ‘British in the Czech Republic‘, I found Jan Šleis, recently returned to the Czech Republic from working in Exeter, who is dual qualified – a Czech Advokát and a Solicitor in England & Wales.

With the help and guidance of Jan, I now have a will in Czech, together with an English translation, which deals with all of my assets. Therefore when the grim reaper does decide to visit, it will enable my two adult children to inherit my house, bank account and personal assets I have here. Jan assures me that the English translation will also allow them to get probate in England and access my one UK asset – my Sterling bank account.

Lawyers don’t come cheap 😉 , as I’m sure anyone reading this blog will know. But as I’m still awaiting the bill from the associated notary and his translator, I cannot put an accurate price on it just yet. But it is one of those things it is easy to put off doing and I’m glad to have ticked it off my ‘To do list’.

Then last month, several times when I tried to use my toaster, it threw the trip switch for half of the electrics in my kitchen. I think I caused the fault when trying to extract part of a piece of toast that had got stuck. I must have pushed part of the heating element into contact with the metal casing of the toaster, causing it to short. So just like the new mobile phone, I went onto the Datart website, found a replacement toaster and ordered it, to be collected from their shop in Decín. Cost CZK 999 / £33.

Just before the end of February, in view of the ever-rising number of COVID-19 cases putting pressure on Czech hospitals, an even more severe lockdown was announced to take effect on Monday 1^st March. Therefore, although I don’t normally go shopping on a Sunday, on the afternoon of Sunday 28^th February, I drove to the Kaufland supermarket in Decín to do a major shop, and to collect my new toaster from the Datart shop, next door to the supermarket.

The supermarket was pleasantly quiet and there was no socially-distanced queue at Datart as I was the only customer. I was halfway back to my home in Stará Oleška, with my shopping and toaster in the boot of my car, when the accelerator went limp and the engine died. I was fortunately able to roll off the main road into a lay-by which is a bus stop.

My wonderful neighbours came and rescued me, my shopping and my toaster and drove me home. But the car is another story and needs a further blogpost. But it definitely is beginning to be a bit expensive……

My Liebster Blogger Award – part two

As promised in my first post eight days ago, here are my answers to the last six questions set by my Liebster Blogger Award nominator Emily, the owner of the blog Czechesotans.

6. What drives you crazy?

The addiction that so many people seem to have to their mobile/cell/smart phones. In particular, the number of people I see here in the Czech Republic, who talk on their mobile phones whilst driving, even though it is completely illegal to do so. What drives me even more crazy is that I’ve never yet seen the police stop someone doing so, even though here in Prague, there are always plenty of police around and they seem to stop people quite readily for relatively petty offences.

It is impossible to be in full control of a vehicle if someone is at the same time, using a hand-held mobile phone. Yet I regularly see mothers doing so, with children in their car; truck drivers who carry an even greater responsibility given the size and weight of their vehicles, also doing so; and when travelling along the D1 Prague-Brno motorway, vehicles passing me in breach of the maximum speed limit, with their drivers talking on their phones.

As I’ve previously highlighted on this blog, even when not driving, constantly talking on a mobile phone is highly anti-social. I continue to see, predominantly but not exclusively women, out walking with their children and/or their dogs, yet with their necks bent forty-five degrees whilst they talk away to some friend on the other end of their mobile phone. What message does that send to the children/dogs? Quality time with Mummy?

Just this morning, I saw another example of anti-social mobile phone use. A woman talking on her mobile whilst at the same time, passing her shopping through the supermarket checkout. If I had been the checkout operator, I would just have stopped serving the woman, until she got off her phone! Being a supermarket checkout operator is a mind-numbing enough without being treated to such rudeness by a customer.

Yes – mobile phones are useful but they shouldn’t control our lives and their use should never endanger the lives of others.

7. Where do you do most of your blogging?

This one is relatively easy to answer. Almost exclusively whilst sitting at my desk in my office in the Chaplaincy Flat. Since May 2012, I’ve had a laptop computer which has enabled me to compile text when I’m elsewhere. But in more than two years, I think I’ve only twice successfully compiled and posted a blog post from somewhere other than my office.

8. How do you spend your free time?

This question raises an interesting issue as I don’t have a job with set hours or even a job description. Officially, I hold an office – I am the Anglican Chaplain in the Czech Republic. As I’m subject to canon law, I do have certain responsibilities that I must fulfil, but how I use my time is very much at my discretion.

Therefore, what is work and what is pleasure is frequently blurred. And I often move from one to the other and back again, several times during the day. Whilst I do regularly have to work unsocial hours – evenings and weekends; unlike many others, I can take ‘time-off’ during the day on weekdays.

I am actively encouraged to take one full ‘day-off’ each week which is normally Monday. Today is Monday, and what am I doing? Writing this blog post! So maybe that answers the question 🙂 I do also like to get out and walk around and explore various parts of Prague, especially the parks. And frequently these walks end by finding somewhere to have ‘a cool glass of something’ 😉

9. What is something cool you’ve found?

As in my previous answer, I’m adept at quite regularly finding ‘a cool glass of something’. But I don’t think that’s what Emily my nominator, meant 😀 Quite honestly, as a British male who is now the wrong side of sixty, I don’t think I’m going find anything that’s ‘cool’, in the sense that my thirty-something American female nominator intended 🙁

10. If you could switch places with someone for a day, who would it be?

I have two responses to this question. The first is that I don’t really want to switch places with anyone, even for a day. I’m perfectly happy being who I am, where I am. My second reaction is that if I did switch places, I would want to do so for far longer than twenty-four hours, in order to institute radical and permanent change. For example, to take over from Putin and put Russia on a totally different political path, in contrast to the confrontational one that is currently being pursued. That would certainly need plenty more time.

11. What gets your creative juices flowing?

With regard to this blog, it has often been current events and the reaction of other people to them, that has suddenly got my fingers tapping rapidly on my keyboard. The resulting blog posts have also usually attracted plenty of comments. Three examples come to mind.

Back in November 2012, I just had to write about the reactions to the result of the American Presidential Election that I was reading on social media, by right-wing conservative friends back in the USA, of a few of my American friends living here in the Czech Republic. It resulted in my post entitled ‘Two days after President Obama’s re-election‘, in which I challenged some of the absurd things that I was reading.

Earlier this year, the Russian takeover of the Crimea peninsula prompted me to quite rapidly write about ‘The Ukraine crisis as seen from the Czech Republic‘. It is a post that has since received many appreciative comments and unfortunately, continues to remain highly apposite in view of the very sad events of the last few days.

The most recent example was at Easter this year, when over fifty ‘public figures’, (for which read, ‘people full of their own self-importance’), declared that David Cameron referring to the United Kingdom as a Christian country, ‘fosters alienation and division in our society’. In response, I immediately wrote the post entitled, ‘The militant atheists are at it again‘. I can tell you, militant atheists and their pronouncements, very quickly get my creative juices going 😉

And finally…..

Thank you Emily, for your nomination and making me answer all these questions. And can I add that your own nomination is also highly deserved.

Winter weather & walks

Where is winter? It is a question I’ve been asking for several weeks. This time last year, there had been snow lying on the ground for about seven weeks. Until yesterday, when we finally had a few heavy snow showers, there had been no snow at all in Prague this winter.

The temperature this evening has just dropped below freezing and the forecast is for temperatures of below 0 degrees Celsius for the next four nights at least. But there is still no sign of any serious snow.

There is a very good reason why I want some serious snow and for temperatures to remain below freezing for many days at a time. To ensure that the mosquitoes are kept at bay!

In the Autumn of 2008 when we first arrived in Prague and throughout the warmer months of 2009, we suffered from an abundance of mosquitoes here in the Chaplaincy Flat and elsewhere. Then two successive severe winters caused their numbers to drop to a handful. I fear that a mild winter might just allow the Prague mosquito population to recover!

In the meantime, a few evenings ago, we did experience this wonderful sunset, the picture being taken from one of the balconies of our flat. The floodlight pylon belongs to the stadium of FK Dukla Praha who, like the rest of the football clubs in the Czech Gambrinus liga, are on their mid-season break which started in early December and doesn’t conclude until late February. In view of the mild weather we have experienced so far this winter, they could still be playing!

As I mentioned in my recent sad post about Sam the dog, one of the many great things he did for Sybille and I was to get us out walking far more than before we adopted him. He became our ‘weight loss programme’ because he exercised us as we exercised him! We are both determined to continue walking just as much as we did when we had Sam so as to maintain our weight loss which between us now exceeds 30 kilos.

Most days, we would walk from the Chaplaincy Flat to the extensive and beautiful Stromovka Park, which lies about twenty-five minutes walk away from where we live. Through doing this, we got to know numerous other Czech and expat dog owners and improved our ‘dog Czech’ no end.

Mobile phone — Talking on my mobile phone © Ricky Yates

However, one behavioural habit which I regularly observed and continue to observe, annoys me intensely – dog owners and parents of young children, who go to the park, but then spend the whole time they are there, talking to someone else on their mobile phones!

The most extreme example I remember was of a woman we met, just by the entrance to Stromovka. She was pushing a buggy with a baby in it; was also holding onto the hand of a toddler and had a dog on a lead. She also was responsible for a slightly older toddler walking in front of her and for a second dog who was off-lead. But at the same time as all of this, she had her head bent to one side to hold her mobile phone next to her shoulder, in order to have a long conversation with one of her friends. I know women are meant to be able to multi-task, but…….

What conscious or sub-conscious message does such behaviour send to either the children or to the dogs? Why do people need to have such phone conversations if they are going to the park in order to spend quality time with their children &/or their dog(s)? Mobile phones are incredibly useful but they can also be a curse.

My photo is of a young woman walking across Václavské námestí/Wenceslas Square, also talking on her mobile, though admittedly, without dog or child in tow. But I hope I make my point – it is perfectly easy to say in response to a call, “I’m in the park with my dog/my children. I’ll call you back when I get home”.

Historical Restaurat — Historical 'Restaurat' in Malá Strana © Ricky Yates

As part of our ongoing walk programme, as well as walking to and around Stromovka Park, Sybille and I have also recently started walking around some of the more central areas of the city, particularly as they are currently relatively free of tourists! However, I’m afraid I cannot resist posting this further wonderful example of Czenglish we spotted one evening recently in Malá Strana. What might be on the menu at a ‘Restaurat’?

Finally for this post, below are two photographs, both of which brought a smile to my face as I hope they will for the many readers of my blog.

This year, New Year’s Day was a Sunday. Our Church Treasurer Gordon is a Scotsman and marked Hogmanay, by coming to Church in his kilt. I did jokingly suggest that he could put the collection in his sporran to take it home to bank the following day! I should add that it is post-Eucharistic coffee rather than a wee dram that he is drinking!

And alongside is an invitation to ‘Explore the meaning of life’ – in Czech!