{"id":1078,"date":"2022-05-11T08:28:49","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T08:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bungalowbill.xyz\/?p=1078"},"modified":"2022-08-20T21:37:16","modified_gmt":"2022-08-20T21:37:16","slug":"may-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bungalowbill.xyz\/?p=1078","title":{"rendered":"May 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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11th May<\/p>\n

Alexa, Housesitting and Birds<\/b><\/p>\n

Last year my niece decided to buy an Alexa for my mother as mum is almost deaf and has hardly any sight left. She thought it would help mum with various bits of information, control lights, tell stories and play music etc. We explained there was no person listening for mums utterances. One of the first thing she tried was requesting Harry Secombe singing the Ruged Cross. Nope not found because Alexa was looking for the ‘Sir’. Then mum tried a few other artists and singers from the 40\u2019s, but alas not available or not referenced exactly as spoken. Seems the AI technology and the back catalogues are still in development. Mum argues with Alexa, says good morning and good night and apologies is she\u2019s rude. It\u2019s a lump of electronics mum, not a real person. As Judith is the registered owner, but lives a half an hour away, mum and Mags couldn\u2019t understand why one evening the tv and lights suddenly went off. A few days later, it was tracked down to Judith telling Alexa at her end to turn everything off as she was on night shift, which rippled across the interweb to mums socket in her sitting room. Isn\u2019t technology wonderful. The other night, mum tried ‘Alexa – socket off’ with nothing happening. I tried, as an Alexaphobe, and it worked. Mums comment – well she obviously <\/span>didn’t like my voice!<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been looking after my mum for the last twelve days while my sister and Steve have had a well needed holiday after it was twice Covid cancelled. It was easier on mum to stay in her environment than decamping her to our house, plus all the plants and cat that needed looking after. We\u2019ve been back a few times to water our own garden and pick up bits and bobs. The normally skittish cat avoids us when we visit, but with Mags and Steve absent and me feeding him, he\u2019s taken quite a shine to June and curls up on the sofa with her and tolerates me scratching him. At my sisters, watering is challenging with over two hundred pots, troughs and tubs and the dire warning from Steve regarding any that die. So far those that were dead are still dead and those that were alive are still alive, so on balance my street cred is good. June managed a spectacular fall on her first day while looking around the garden. Badly shaken, blooded and bruised, she refused to venture past the patio for the duration. I popped down the road to buy some plants from a private seller. A great range of plants so I said “I\u2019ve got \u00a330, what can I have”. I ended up with a huge boot full. While away from home, I had the ideal opportunity to update my memoirs what I’ve been working on for many years. Finally “A Lifetime in Electronic Engineering” is taking shape and as part of an infinity loop, the contents of the blog will also be included in the book – a bit of a Matrix moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

While away from the house, the tit box by the patio was attacked by a woodpecker and the nest contents strewn around. With no activity, I removed the box to find one dead chick and two eggs <\/span>abandoned on the box. I’ve now put a aluminium plate on the front with a 25mm hole ready for next year and will re-locate it further away from the bird table and will add similar plates to the other boxes. I spotted three young robins sitting on the fence down near the woods and a juvenile blackbird in the laurel, a lovely sight.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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