Nina's Blog - Wednesday 3rd June 2026
Wednesday 3rd June 2026, 17:34
Well, today has been unsatisfactory in various ways. First I had to get up unusually early so that I could leave at 07:00 to be sure of getting to Tesla at Wolverhampton before 09:45. It's only 110 km but at this time of day the traffic is quite heavy and variable. Google Maps said it could take between and hour and a half and nearly two and a half.
That made for a pretty tedious drive. Not long after I checked the car in at Tesla a technician came out to explain that as the fault was intermittent it was difficult to say how long it would take and that there was no point in me waiting. But I had nowhere else to go so I stayed and simply did some programming. Glad I did because after about two and a half hours he came back and said that he had tried everything to provoke the fault but the car behaved perfectly and that in his opinion the only thing to do was to drive the car until the warning became permanent. The good news is that Tesla waived the costs for the time spent trying to diagnose the fault. So I set off to find my accommodation via Hilton services and Aldi. As the crow flies Hilton service was only four miles away but twelve by road and I took a wrong turning that added another eight! So by the time I got to the charge the battery was unusually low, down to about 35 miles. Still enough to get to another charger so not a problem.
I had spent a few minutes topping up the battery this morning in Nottingham just to make sure I kept that safety margin. While I was there I received a message from the place I'm staying at now saying that in order to get into the house I would have to download an app and register an account with Yale, the lock company. I did that but didn't have time to register before setting off for Wolverhampton so I did it while I waiting at the service centre. I was not pleased to have to do this and my misgivings were confirmed when I got to the house. It turns out that not only does the door lock need an app but the app also needs an internet connection even though it allegedly talks to the lock by BlueTooth. But my mobile is a PAYG so I don't have data switched on unless I absolutely must. So I followed the instructions in the confirmation message to connect to the WiFi which failed because the password was wrong. So I had to turn on data just to get the door open.
Once i I realized that I didn't know which room was mine. Luckily there was only on with the door open and a key in the lock. I tried again to connect to the WiFi in case I had mistyped it, no luck. Now I can't even open the door to get out without turning on data roaming. That means paying every time I leave or enter the house!
Eventually I heard movement from upstairs and a voice asking if everything was alright. Turned out to be the guy who runs the place. He eventually produced a scrap of paper with the real password on it.
I explained how utterly dissatisfied I was with this rigmarole and pointed out that not everyone has a smarphone and many of those who do don't have data especially foreign visitors.
Well, today has been unsatisfactory in various ways. First I had to get up unusually early so that I could leave at 07:00 to be sure of getting to Tesla at Wolverhampton before 09:45. It's only 110 km but at this time of day the traffic is quite heavy and variable. Google Maps said it could take between and hour and a half and nearly two and a half.
That made for a pretty tedious drive. Not long after I checked the car in at Tesla a technician came out to explain that as the fault was intermittent it was difficult to say how long it would take and that there was no point in me waiting. But I had nowhere else to go so I stayed and simply did some programming. Glad I did because after about two and a half hours he came back and said that he had tried everything to provoke the fault but the car behaved perfectly and that in his opinion the only thing to do was to drive the car until the warning became permanent. The good news is that Tesla waived the costs for the time spent trying to diagnose the fault. So I set off to find my accommodation via Hilton services and Aldi. As the crow flies Hilton service was only four miles away but twelve by road and I took a wrong turning that added another eight! So by the time I got to the charge the battery was unusually low, down to about 35 miles. Still enough to get to another charger so not a problem.
I had spent a few minutes topping up the battery this morning in Nottingham just to make sure I kept that safety margin. While I was there I received a message from the place I'm staying at now saying that in order to get into the house I would have to download an app and register an account with Yale, the lock company. I did that but didn't have time to register before setting off for Wolverhampton so I did it while I waiting at the service centre. I was not pleased to have to do this and my misgivings were confirmed when I got to the house. It turns out that not only does the door lock need an app but the app also needs an internet connection even though it allegedly talks to the lock by BlueTooth. But my mobile is a PAYG so I don't have data switched on unless I absolutely must. So I followed the instructions in the confirmation message to connect to the WiFi which failed because the password was wrong. So I had to turn on data just to get the door open.
Once i I realized that I didn't know which room was mine. Luckily there was only on with the door open and a key in the lock. I tried again to connect to the WiFi in case I had mistyped it, no luck. Now I can't even open the door to get out without turning on data roaming. That means paying every time I leave or enter the house!
Eventually I heard movement from upstairs and a voice asking if everything was alright. Turned out to be the guy who runs the place. He eventually produced a scrap of paper with the real password on it.
I explained how utterly dissatisfied I was with this rigmarole and pointed out that not everyone has a smarphone and many of those who do don't have data especially foreign visitors.
70-79, TVIP
