Early Risers.

[simontaylor484]

We are all LED bulb now throughout the house. We do leave the middle floor light hallway light on for the kids if they get up in the night especially the eldest who would have to come upstairs to use the bathroom. 

We have stopped using the dishwasher so much now that I am at home it probably goes on once a week. Our washer is A rated. So is the fridge freezer. The radiators on the ground floor are turned on to the lowest setting its just hallway and kitchen 

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Hope Kelly has had success day and is recovering well.

Despite rather a lot of posting  today I have had a busy day and thanks for all your support. 
Just to answer a couple of questions I may not have already answered.

The electrical problem is nothing to do with the builders, the original building is from the 1960s and I think the issue is to do with age. I still owe the builder about £10k so I’ve still got some leverage. Something that I didn’t mention early is that yesterday’s repairs to the lintel support are not up to standard, the builder has incorporated wooden beams into the support which obviously isn’t any good in the event of a fire. I was thinking of giving them a bonus on completion but I think I’ll keep  the money as some remedial work may be needed down the line.

Sorry for all my downbeat posting recently but I really do appreciate all your support. I realise that my woes are nothing in comparison to those of the people of Ukraine and like Natalie  feel sorry for ordinary Russians, tarred with the Putin brush and made to suffer.

Goodnight,

Robert

[Tony_S]

7 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

My energy supplier hasn't yet upped the payments but I'm well in credit. In fact my account is in credit all year round. Last year I asked for and got a refund but this year because of the price increase but I will ask for only a small increase to match what I am using.

We are in credit too but the debit needs reducing as we are consuming very little electricity from the grid now. 

[Sidecar Racer]

16 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

But as you say, politics is best avoided here. 

 

 

With no malice to Natalie.

 

 I may be a lone voice but I have to say that I have only seen restrained

and constructive comment and support and sympathy for a foreign nation

who through no fault of their own have been placed in a terrible situation .

 

 I have seen no post with any form of 'political' content , to me this would

have to be people saying that party X would do this while party Y did that

and party Z did nothing .

 

Just my ten pence worth .

 

 

 

 

 

[Grizz]

Finally managed to extract a pine splinter, which came from the side of our chest of drawers, that I accidentally rammed up under the middle finger nail, whilst I was picking up my phone. After extracting the splinter I got a better look at it, it was roughly 6mm long x 1mm x 1mm .      Fudgefudgetyfudgefudgefudge that totally fudging hurt! Luckily when it went in it left 1.5mm sticking out…
 

Actuallly getting it out with my Stanley knife and the tweezers was the really fun bit. At the time my fingers were quite cold but by the time I got it out they’d warmed up, that’s when it hurt most. Should left the poxy phone on the floor…

 

 

Edited March 2, 2022 by Grizz

[Ozexpatriate]

15 minutes ago, Sidecar Racer said:

I have only seen restrained and constructive comment and support and sympathy for a foreign nation who through no fault of their own have been placed in a terrible situation .

Mostly, yes.

15 minutes ago, Sidecar Racer said:

I have seen no post with any form of 'political' content , to me this would have to be people saying that party X would do this while party Y did that and party Z did nothing.

As I said, people have differing perceptions of what constitutes 'politics', particularly in an international setting. ERs are pretty good about not making the kind of posts you suggest relative to elected officials in the UK.

 

I find myself feeling unwell today - a feeling of mild gastric distress that would be too much information to share here. I'm trying to decide if this is a reaction to a week spent in front of the television watching the unfolding horror or something else.

[TheSignalEngineer]

Talking to our daughter this afternoon. The multinational company she works for has 140 employees in Ukraine, spread out in different locations. They have set up a group on social media to keep in contact with them and hold what is effectively a 'Roll Call' every day. Fortunately all have managed to appear on line today and are safe, although some sheltering in basements for most of the time. 

[polybear]

33 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

Something that I didn’t mention early is that yesterday’s repairs to the lintel support are not up to standard, the builder has incorporated wooden beams into the support which obviously isn’t any good in the event of a fire.

 

I suspect Buildings Control would be (should be?) less than happy with that idea - do they still come and inspect critical bits?

 

33 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

I realise that my woes are nothing in comparison to those of the people of Ukraine and like Natalie  feel sorry for ordinary Russians, tarred with the Putin brush and made to suffer.

Goodnight,

Robert

 

There must be many Russians who are less than impressed with what's going on - but have to be very wary about expressing it for fear of getting "a visit".  From what's reported on the news it's also pretty scary that many actually believe in Putin and that Ukraine is the Big Bad Wolf in all this.

 

18 minutes ago, Sidecar Racer said:

I have seen no post with any form of 'political' content , to me this would

have to be people saying that party X would do this while party Y did that

and party Z did nothing .

 

 

Agreed; many posts are submitted with no intended political angle whatsoever - but if you dig hard enough (or even just a little bit in some instances) then it's possible to interpret a post as being political.

Hmmm - is the above sentence political by any chance?  Bear's off for a lie down....

[polybear]

11 minutes ago, Grizz said:

Finally managed to extract a pine splinter, which came from the side of our chest of drawers, that I accidentally rammed up under the middle finger nail, whilst I was picking up my phone. After extracting the splinter I got a better look at it, it was roughly 6mm long x 1mm x 1mm .      Fudgefudgetyfudgefudgefudge that totally fudging hurt! Luckily when it went in it left 1.5mm sticking out…
 

 

Bear's suddenly feeling a bit queasy....

 

11 minutes ago, Grizz said:

Actually getting it out with my Stanley knife and the tweezers was the really fun bit. 

 

Barf.....

[Erichill16]

18 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

I suspect Buildings Control would be (should be?) less than happy with that idea - do they still come and inspect critical bits?

 

Building Control have been invited.

[NGT6 1315]

I guess the current crisis will hardly leave anyone unaffected emotionally. It certainly affects me strongly, especially with a view to how quickly everything escalated when the world is only slowly beginning to emerge from the pandemic, but also to how people across the world rise to organise aid to those now dearly in need of it. Though of course any long-term strategy to be adopted internationally will have to make provisions for empowering the people of Russia to making better choices than those Putin wrought upon the population, so as to prevent a vicious circle of hostility between peoples from taking hold.

 

Good night, folks. Stay safe.

[Coombe Barton]

... and meet a new Prof ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2022/03/02/national-variance/

[TheSignalEngineer]

Our energy supplier isn't doing fixed price deals except some bundles including various maintenance contracts at the moment. 

As things like halogen downlighters have failed the lamps have been replaced by LEDs so the whole house except for two places where traditional lamps are significantly better are low energy types.  

The heating is kept slightly low for most of the time, only being turned up if we feel cold. Little-used rooms tend to have the thermostatic valve set low but we do find that with the wind in particular directions some adjustments are needed. If you go to the top of the big hill behind us you can see all the way to Drax, in fact if you carried on for about 500 miles in the same direction the next big hill you hit is in Norway.

[Sidecar Racer]

16 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Agreed; many posts are submitted with no intended political angle whatsoever - but if you dig hard enough (or even just a little bit in some instances) then it's possible to interpret a post as being political.

 

 

 That is the problem I will agree , it's all down to individual interpretation,

Maybe I am to simple but I just take things at face value and don't look to

deeply into things unless it's obvious that someone is stirring the pot for

a reaction , then I just pass on to the next post .

[New Haven Neil]

Our thermocat was turned down to 18 after I 'became retired' 18 months ago.  Can't realistically turn it down much more without being uncomfortable, the heating is only on for an hour in the morning, we use a wood burner only in the evening, and thick jumpers through the day.  The dishwasher runs on coffee, the tumble drier banned from use, just the washer which is A+ in use.  We don't use a lot of light, and 90% of that is LED.  Basically we've already done what we can, before the current price craziness.  Bear in mind our energy costs are about a third higher than the UK......we're bo££ocksed.  Next winter is going to be tough.  Back to frost on the inside of windows like when I was a kid in the north-east.

[tigerburnie]

22 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

... and meet a new Prof ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2022/03/02/national-variance/

I fear the answer is political, the medical profession say one thing and the politicians seem to be ignoring them.

[polybear]

Well it seems that Mr. Abramovich may be a good guy (or there's hope for him) after all....

 

 

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich said he will sell the club - with the "net proceeds" going to benefit victims of the war in Ukraine.

The Russian billionaire, who took over in 2003, said money generated from his sale of the club will go to a foundation benefiting "all victims of the war in Ukraine".

It is not clear if his reference to "all victims" means just Ukrainians, or Russians as well.

But, he said it "includes providing critical funds towards the urgent and immediate needs of victims, as well as supporting the long-term work of recovery".

[tigerburnie]

I changed over our lighting to leds and low energy types years ago(I was doing the same thing at work at the time), in our little cottage we don't have central heating, our multi fuel stove is our sole heating unit along with a towel rail in the bathroom. We don't have gas in the village only mains electric(and water), even our waste goes to our own little water treatment works, due to the hilly terrain. I'm the dishwasher(we have never owned one) and the tumble drier hasn't been used for well over a year. I added extra insulation in the loft and even removed the plaster boards off the outside walls to add 4 inches of additional insulation, smaller rooms but a lot easier to warm, I don't see how we could lower our energy consumption any more. We even fitted a new oven and hob in the kitchen that are lower consumption, we sit on rock, so I am told a heat pump is not an option for us either, garden is a tad too small for a windmill and our neighbours tell us that we are not getting enough sun for the solar panels to be of any benefit financially, they reckon theirs will need replacing before they pay for themselves. We've halved our miles we drive over the past 2 years and will be continuing with this unless the fuel costs reduce dramatically, our life style has changed quite a lot, we should be ok as we are but people with young families in larger houses must be dreading the increases.

[Tony_S]

@Ian Abel Happy Birthday. 

[tigerburnie]

Happy Birthday Ian, it's mine too this week.

G'night all

[laurenceb]

Birthday greetings to Ian and Tigerburnie (For when it comes)

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I've replaced all my light bulbs with LED's, I don't have a dryer and I rarely use the oven, its usually the grill, microwave or dry fryer. The dry fryer uses about the same amount of electricity as the micro as its fitted with a thermostat. And with a new boiler fitted only 18 months ago my energy consumption has almost halved.

[brianusa]

2 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

We are all LED bulb now throughout the house. We do leave the middle floor light hallway light on for the kids if they get up in the night especially the eldest who would have to come upstairs to use the bathroom. 

We have stopped using the dishwasher so much now that I am at home it probably goes on once a week. Our washer is A rated. So is the fridge freezer. The radiators on the ground floor are turned on to the lowest setting its just hallway and kitchen 

We have forced air heating which uses natural gas and the thermostat set at 75F. Soon the weather will start  to warm and it will be turned down a bit.  Like many, we have changed out our bulbs and the bill comes to about just over $200 a month; which we can live with.  At our age its worth it!

      Brian  

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Nearly forgot, happy birthday Ian.

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.