jonny777

Dry and bright again in North Somerset. The sun keeps breaking through from time to time. 

I realise that I am now residing in a parallel universe. There was a knock on the door a few minutes ago and two chaps from the local kitchen fitters (who put in our new kitchen about 12 months ago - just before lockdown) who said they had come to disconnect my pond. 

???

I do have a small pond, but it is just a preformed plastic thing containing water and duckweed. It is not connected to anything. I looked suitably bemused, and they went away once satisfied that I had no idea what they were talking about. 

On the subject of magnesium and bright burning light, I once took a piece from school and proceeded to light it with a match when I got home. It certainly did burn very brightly, but the strip I was holding also became very hot very quickly (something I had failed to think about before starting my 'experiment') and in a panic I dropped it, but before I could extinguish the flame it had burned a small black circle on my mother's kitchen worktop. 

I cannot remember the excuse I made up in order to attempt to quell her anger when she came home, but I suspect it was equally as pathetic as not recognising the heat conducting properties of metals. 

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

When I had a Capri 2.8i the driver's door lock failed and the door couldn't be latched shut. I took it to a dealer who told me that the fault was a broken spring but there were no spares available so it would have to be a completely new lock at a "How much??" price. I therefore went home (with the door tied shut) and took the lock mecahnism apart, whereupon I discovered that the spring was the same (or damn near the same, just a bit shorter) as that in a standard household spring loaded door handle mechanism costing a couple of quid. Guess what I did? The lock remaned functional for at least the next three years until I sold the car.

 

Dave

 

PS - Just seen iD's post re BEAR-L study. Since Jill accused me a few days ago of acting like a bear with a sore head, do I qualify? If so, please send details of how to join in.

Back in the early 1970s when I drove an Austin 1300, something went very wrong one Saturday afternoon while driving back to Bucks from my parents' place in Lincolnshire. When I pressed the clutch pedal to change gear the engine revs would rise to something like infinity, and in 1st or 2nd gear the car would try to accelerate like crazy even with my foot off the pedal. I put it in 4th and with my foot on the brake managed to keep going around the country roads of Bedfordshire, until I came to a garage that was open. The kind mechanic explained that a linkage to the pedal had snapped, but he did not have the correct part. However, rather than see me stranded (in Shefford I think it was), he said he would use a thick rubber band to connect the two parts and that ought to just about get me home. 

The rubber band certainly did that, and I forgot all about it. In fact, when I sold the car a year later the rubber band must have still been doing its 'temporary' job, as I only thought about it after I no longer owned the car. 

A dry and bright morning in North Somerset. A bit chilly, but not too bad. 

Wonders may never cease. Yesterday, and completely out of the blue, I had an email from the solicitors saying the purchasers of my Dad's bungalow wish to complete by March 30th. 

Given that the property was initially marketed in October 2019 and has had umpteen lockdowns, and an initial sale which fell through at the last minute, to say I am mightily relieved at this news will be the understatement of the year. 

At least the money will guarantee I can pay the £1000 a week, that the care home charges, for many years to come. (Fortunately, pensions and allowances cover 50% of this amount and so the drain on Dad's bank balance is not as hefty as might first appear). 

Dry and sunny here in North Somerset. 

We had a lovely spring day yesterday, and I skimmed some duck weed off the pond surface. I also became very optimistic and planted gladioli and freesia bulbs in tubs for some summer flowering. 

I still have a bit of gum ache, head in a vice feeling, and itchy spots on my skin, occasionally but they are becoming much less severe and also less frequent which is good. 

I saw a couple of 50 litre bags of potting compost advertised online for £14 with free delivery yesterday, and took advantage of the offer. I have just had an email saying they will be delivered this morning. Wow, that is a decent free delivery option, as I clicked on "3-5 days standard". 

Very late today, but a bright and breezy day with just a few squally showers. Unfortunately the gales of the last 48 hours have blown over many of our daffodils, but the worst affected ones tend to get brought inside, for a few days in a vase.

I have finished my birthday cake, which was very pleasant. I will make that again sometime. 

My cordless lawn mower is very good, and at last I have said goodbye to the routine of getting out cable reels and plugging them in. One battery charge is enough for all my grass. 

Hello from a showery North Somerset. Over 10mm of rain since midnight, and the 'repaired' water butt is overflowing. However I can't tell if it is still leaking until we have had a dry day or two. 

I did some wallpapering back in the 1980s, but although it turned out ok - it was such a palaver that I swore I would do no more, and so I haven't. If SWMBO ever wants any walls papering, she can pay to have it done professionally, because I'm not doing it. TBH, I don't really like wallpaper anyway, it tends to remind me of Indian restaurants. 

I was sole executor for M-i-l's estate, mainly because the other named executor was too busy looking after his own informed parents to have the time to assist; and he signed an official form to relieve himself of the duties. I didn't find it too stressful, but everything had to be taken in a logical order. I had to renew my passport for i.d. purposes, and then visit the probate office to swear a declaration on oath, plus answer a few questions; but I had retired by then and the time consuming nature of working through all the bank/building society accounts and various shareholdings kept me busy. 

I found many organisations had a bereavement department, and they were all very good. Send them a copy of the death certificate plus the official executor forms, and they soon released the money. The only ones to cause me problems were NS&I who flatly refused to give back any money from savings accounts or premium bonds because I could not answer their questions about the proof of residence, because mother in law had lived in the same house since 1959; but did not have bills going back that far, and had no evidence of her previous address. 

In the end I lost patience and wrote a stroppy letter telling them that if they wanted proof of her being at the same address for 60 years they need only look at their own records of where they sent statements and premium bond correspondence to during that time. This seemed to do the trick and they closed her accounts and transferred the money. 

I was pestered by the utility company who kept turning up at the house (allegedly) to fit a new meter, only to find no one at home (not surprising as she was dead - and I live 250 miles away). I kept telling them this, but the redirected letters kept on coming, threatening all kinds of retribution if the occupier was not there for the next appointed time; which she wasn't because she was dead. In the end I just ignored them, sold the property, eventually, and left the new owners to deal with the dimwit meter company. 

Another sunny morning in North Somerset. In weather terms my birthday is not usually as nice as this. 

I have sealed the water butt as best I can, and now all I have to do is wait for rain and monitor for leaks (story of my later life really). 

Cake making will commence later this morning, and I hope to produce my own chinese prawn dumplings this afternoon. A few glasses of sherbert, and that will complete the day. 

Another dry and bright morning in North Somerset. 

One of my water butts has sprung a leak, which is not good news with the driest part of the year fast approaching. What is more, the split in the tank is right down towards the bottom near the bulge where it turns in towards the base. Where the pressure of 250kg of water (when full) just helps to open the wound even further. 

My plan is to tip a decent amount of sealant inside and then use a paint brush, gaffer taped to a bamboo cane, to smear the thick liquid around the split area, then leave to dry. I will paint sealant around the outside as well and hope this will work. If not, a new butt will need to be purchased. 

A dry, sunny and frosty morning in North Somerset. 

I may be absent for a while, as I have bought an app called Train Station Simulator (yes, I know - but it is an American offering) and am having trouble with the station cleaners and getting people to travel on my trains. 

This could take a while.....

2 hours ago, Barry O said:

so did you pay your "overdue Amazon Bill" as well.. if not you could be incarcerated for some considerable time BoD!

 

Baz

 

PS I also have an outstanding Royal Mil delivery waiting for me to supply various bit of my financial details...

On the subject of the Royal Mail, my postwoman was very apologetic yesterday because a tall but thin cardboard container was leaking fluid, and the sorting office had wrapped the package in a plastic bag, with a number for me to phone for compensation. 

She seemed somewhat relieved when I said the contents were iris plants and the sender had probably added some water to keep them alive in transit. 

Still, I am glad that they have taken so much care in my package. 

The irises have been planted by the pond this morning and I hope they like it there. 

Dry and bright in North Somerset this morning. The sun made a brief appearance but has gone again now.

My weather data logger arrived yesterday, and after flatly refusing to connect with my wifi on a number of attempts, I did eventually manage to get it set up properly. 

I had no idea what I was doing and could make no sense of the instruction manual full of protocols, BIN files and MD5 hashes; but after an afternoon of slowly going through all the online parameters, I even managed to get the thing transmitting, and to send my weather data online. 

How I have managed that is anyone's guess but for a few seconds of boredom, anyone can now go to https://www.pwsweather.com/station/pws/UPPERNAILSEA

and view my latest weather conditions. 

A word of warning, though. My setup is nothing like official, and the main machine is sat on the shed roof. Therefore the temperature will read too high on a hot sunny day as the shed warms up, the winds are nothing like 10m standard winds, and the rain gauge seems to read too low compared to a check gauge and radar accumulation totals. However, other than that the figures are vaguely reliable. 

The 'upper' Nailsea is a long standing joke between myself and an old work colleague.