Cellphone changed

My previous Moto E Android smartphone was adequate but after operating system updates it tended to run out of storage. I replaced it with a Alcatel Pop 4 and was plagued by Alcatel-specific mandatory apps. I now have a Moto C which is pleasing indeed: it runs quite quickly, does not force annoying apps on me and I am back to having plenty of storage available, perhaps at least until the next major operating system update. The one thing I am missing is a small notification light: it is now too easy to miss that a text message came in.

Interrupted by having moved stuff

We now have extra furniture and sundry items that I transported North up the M6 in a Volkswagen Crafter: we rented the model with the longest wheelbase and easily fit plenty in. It was interesting to rent a panel van instead of the box truck I would have typically rented from Ryder in the US: a Luton body would have been harder for me to navigate around the residential neighborhoods with on-street parking. The six-speed diesel Crafter drove efficiently and well though I had to relearn a gentler slowing to a near-stop at intersections because my cargo would not have appreciated a last-seconds harder stop for my yielding to unexpected traffic.

Unfortunately it will take time for us to shed enough possessions from our house to make adequate room for what we have now brought from England. Currently my work desk upstairs is rather blocked and the cross-trainer is very inaccessible in the back of the garage. These issues may take weeks to fix properly. I am also accumulating a backlog of other to-do's such as the computer work I was mentioning earlier this year. At least I should get a good few weekends at home for doing some of this catchup though my daughter has some weekend science classes coming up soon. Over July we have various family visiting from the US so it would be good to get things largely finished before then.