Interesting week…  I was on a train between Liverpool Street and Ipswich to see a client and I found a 32Gb iPhone 3GS which had been left behind by another passenger.  Tracking the owner was not easy (and with the greatest respect to Network Rail staff, I had little confidence in their abilities to successfully return the item either!)

The iPhone was locked with a keyguard which, on the one hand, provided excellent security for the owner as it prevented any access to their personal emails.  But on the other hand, it was so secure that I had no way of knowing who the owner was to return the item.

Thankfully, I was able to transfer the SIM card to another phone and access the ‘Contacts’.  Armed with this, I called the owner’s ‘Mum’ (it went straight to voicemail), ‘Parents Home’ (no answer) and two other friends where both mobile and home numbers were listed (reducing the likelihood of the contact being a business colleague).

Eventually, I got lucky and spoke to a friend of the owner who put me in touch with a very thankful lady in London.  She was convinced she’d lost her phone forever so you can imagine the relief!  In fact, her appreciation was so great that the next day I received this bottle of Château Méaume.

But the point of this article isn’t to discuss the reunion of iPhone with owner but to highlight how a reunion is possible if you lost yours.  A keyguard is sensible, but so is changing your iPhone wallpaper to display an alternative contact telephone number and email address.

Changing your wallpaper is a simple procedure in Photoshop, just by overlaying the text as a new layer and saving as a JPG file.  Email it to yourself and save the file on your iPhone.  Then, in ‘Settings’ and ‘Wallpaper’, simply navigate to your saved image and select it.

Here’s mine:

How many iPhone owners do you know? Send them a link to this article so they can do the same thing.

This week, I’ve been gaining inspiration for our new ‘client viewing room’ so a trip to the Ideal Home Show in London seemed the perfect thing to do (and a great excuse to check out the latest trends in interior design!)  I couldn’t believe how huge this Earls Court show was – or how many people had the same idea as me!

Anyway, it really was a great place to get some good ideas about how to theme the new client viewing room, especially as there is so much to think about.  On the one hand clients need to feel welcomed and relaxed, and on the other hand it needs to be practical (especially if children are coming along with their parents).  On the third hand (!) the lighting needs to be conducive for the viewing of photographs to show them in their true colours, and on the fourth hand (how many do I have?!) it all needs to reflect the Bonjour Photography brand.

All in all, the show was fantastic and I came away with some great ideas (and a lighter wallet!) so I can’t wait to open the doors on the new room when it’s ready!

You can’t describe how large Earls Court is. The house below is full size and was dwarfed by all the exhibition areas.

Caroline has a quick shower (left), while this black and white vase (right) fits the Bonjour brand perfectly (two of those please!)

I was convinced that 3D TV was going to be gimmicky at best.  But trying on the glasses for myself and watching a U2 concert on the LG 55LX9900 was an amazing experience and (I hate to use the cliché) really felt like I was there!  I have no idea who these people are, but they spent ages viewing the TV from different angles and really testing it out.  Encouragingly, the footage we were viewing hadn’t been ‘made for 3D’ like some new movies are (where the camera angles are shot to promote the whole 3D technology.)  Instead, it was ‘just’ a U2 concert, but you really were right there on stage with Bono and The Edge!

Looking down on some of the most extensive collections of wallpaper.  Decisions, decisions…!

It was possibly the perfect weekend. Good friends came from Manchester, Rochester and Cheltenham to spend a time of catching up and relaxation with us in Baughurst, Hampshire. What’s more, my year of not eating any chocolate came to an end (it all stemmed from a moneyless bet with Peter May of ClarionCall,  but let’s not go there!) What better way to have my first taste of chocolate than in the company of friends?

After a wonderful lunch of home-made soup and bread provided by Rosheen and Nik, we all spent the afternoon swimming at the local spa, or should I say the girls swam with the kids while the guys looked on from the Jacuzzi!

A fantastic Spaghetti Bolognese from ‘D’ rounded off the day with a very impromptu but talented show by the members of ‘Starbust’ (aka the kids) in the style of X-Factor. Three of us were nominated as judges and I made a very convincing Simon Cowell (if I do say so myself!)

Sunday roast, provided by my good lady wife, satisfied us so much that a refreshing walk in the country beckoned. It was only 45 minutes around the village so there was enough time for frisby and a game of ‘it’ or tag, as us oldies used to call it.

But before I allowed anyone to warm themselves with tea, home made cakes, chocolate around an open fire when we got home, a group photograph was taken. One formal, one not so. Which do you prefer – the first (backlit and more formal) or the second (chilling on the climbing frame)?

And the incredible chocolate gift from Annabel Errington…!