Birthday

The day started with the traditional Cousins’ call over Zoom. A couple of cousins were missing, but the rest chimed in as usual. We had the usual updates and banter in the allotted time, then dropped off and sent a message to Zoe.

Zoe wanted a copy of Excel and Word on the MacBook that I had lent her. I have a family license so it was just a matter of downloading the code. She popped around, MacBook in hand, and we started the various incantations that would release the magic and install the code. It didn't take too long and we checked that it was working. All was well.

Diane and I were scheduled to meet with Jane and Trevor at The Mulberry Inn for lunch. It was, after all, Jane's Birthday on Thursday so a small celebration seemed only right and proper. As we drove towards Chiddingfold, a message came in from Zoe. She had completed the spreadsheet that she wanted, but couldn't save it. I had a suspicion as to the cause, but it was not something I could quickly explain by text (Diane was transcribing) while driving. It would have to wait until we got home.

The Mulberry Inn is under new management (since our last visit). It has a menu featuring the usual favourites and a good selection of Lebanese dishes. We settled down and made our choice. While Diane and Jane both chose fish, Trevor and I both selected the Lebanese mixed grill. This turned out to be a good choice with succulent lamb, chicken, liver, flatbread, and aubergine.

We caught up on all of the news and gave Jane her Birthday present. This was a book of our family history featuring our direct ancestors (pedigree) for about 12 generations. Hopefully, it will give her some interesting reading and prompt some memories that can be added to the story.

Trevor also revealed that they had bought a new car (virtually on a whim). They swapped the Corolla for a RAV4. The RAV4 is significantly larger than the one Diane had and is now a self-charging hybrid. We had a look over it when we had finished the meal - it really is a very nice car.

Back home, we walked to Zoe's so that I could try to sort out the Excel problem. As I had suspected it was a problem related to the authorization granted to Zoe's Sainsbury's identity. By switching the identity to her personal account we managed to save the file. She will need to contact Sainsbury's IT support so that they can authorize Excel for her Sainsbury's id.