test please delete

[ladymuck]

Oh and I forgot to mention that the battery on the car is completely dead which makes me wonder if the alarm had been going off all weekend or some such while I was away at HWMBO's. The neighbours haven't complained though.

I did check that the battery hadn't been nicked, as that would be very annoying indeed.

So, hopefully it'll jump start ok later and then I'll have to take it for a run up to the M4 and back to recharge the battery.

[NickFitz]

Just discovered that someone got themselves into my car and had a rummage about. The locking wheel nut key is now missing so now I'm concerned that someone is going to either (a) loosen off the nuts on the wheels so they come off when driving and I die or (b) just come back and nick the wheels.

Trying to see if anyone can replace the locking wheel nuts and issue a new key before I have to travel on Christmas Eve

[NickFitz]

Tonight's first major motion picture premiere was Reality (2023) in which Ms. Reality Winner comes home from work at the NSA to find the FBI waiting for her… Unlike many "based on a true story" films, this is true: the entire script comes from the official transcript of the recording device one of the FBI agents was wearing during the events depicted in the film; it seems from the timings shown on screen that about twenty minutes or so have been elided, and other than that (which seems likely to have been periods when nothing was being said or trivial chat about irrelevancies), this is the real thing. But disclosing proof that the Russians had helped get Trump elected while he was still President had the consequences for Ms. Winner that one might expect

And then fictional intelligence matters in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) which is, as the title suggests, one of those Mission: Impossible films. Very good as they always are, and we can only hope Tom Cruise lives long enough to make Part Two - I mean, he's ancient, being *checks notes* - ah, the same age as me; we should be fine then, with a youngster like that in the role

Goodnight all

[WTFH]

Morning all
Set my alarm for 6am to go to the butcher. Got up at 6. Checked their website, says they aren't open until 7.30, so I took MMtSH out for a walk. Got to the butcher at 7.33. Chatted to them, and the deli counter ladies said I was the first customer. I said that I'd mistakenly set my alarm thinking they were open at 6.30. The butcher says he was open from 6.10.
Anyway, enough gammon to feed a family of 8 for 2 days has been purchased, along with similar quantities of sausages & bacon (all from a farm in Sidbury, according to the paperwork). Currently one of the three meat-eaters who would be enjoying this has tested positive for COVID and may not be turning up.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Morning.

Is it Friday?

Dry.

Grey.

Dark.

Dank.

Sunless.

Chilly in here at 13 deg, 12.5 deg in the kitchen, 12.5 deg in the leanto.

1014 mBar, 29.9434 in Hg, 760.56 Torr, 14.7 psi, (up from 1012 last night), 76% RH (GDR hair), 72% RH (Lidl electric).

Meanwhile on the 8th of August 2019 there was a discussion of missing posts which appeared to be problematic for Brillo.

Freecell score: 86%, running average: 86%. Well it's better than 0% as per yesterday. .

Lunch: scrambled egg etc.

Entertainment: TWATO <click>

Shopping trip to Morrisons done dusted washed dried sanitised & put away. There's the baked beans got for Xmas day.

Walk (abbreviated) walked in the grey gloom I became almost warm during it.

Freecell score: 88%, running average: 86%. Would have been better but for a dumb mistake.

Tea: soup etc.

Entertainment: PM.

A Christmas Carol on Talking Pictures TV. From 1937.

Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988): much more my style. Bah Humbug.

Dead Ringers. .

Wheeler Dealers S9 E15 Mercedes SLK with a duff hydraulic pump.

Freecell score: 94%, running average: 86%.

Minute by Minute: Emergency: 2007 Melbourne tunnel fire. Nasty very.

Swedish Spanish Customs thing. No frog fat so far, just a chap with crabs. His entire luggage is full of crabs, the kind from the sea rather than the public louse: condemned & confiscated. A chap from Bolivia with 7.1kg of coca leaves. Personal use only. . (The limit is 5kg after which it's gaol time). And they took 20k in euros off him. Some Moroccan kid found hanging on under a bus: he'd travelled 900km like that. A Russian smuggler with a shedload of cigarettes.

A woman from Russia with more cigarettes. A woman from Bolivia with 60kg of luggage mostly full of kitchen ingredients with the inevitable addition of some coca leaves. A chap attempting to export car parts to Morocco. Dunno why that's problematic. Oh. There's an export tariff. Who'd have thunk?

Still no frog fat..

[Dactylion]

Contemplating exactly when I can pish-orf from the grind today.

Time sheet signing bloke is off after lunch.
He's subtly suggested "nobody will notice if you PO early".
Various other bods are cluttering up Teams with "Merry Crimbo" Tulip, silly GIFs and associated guff.

Oh well - I'll grab a coffee now and contemplate the options.

Merry Xmas/NY if I decide to cut my losses :-)

[ladymuck]

Morning all

Overcast and dull. Breezy. Dry. Currently 11 degrees ('feels like' 9) with a high of 12 possible. No precipitation forecast. Barometer up to 1013 mBar.

Yesterday's attempts to sort the locking wheel nuts and key culminated in the following:
1. I have to book a garage that has the equipment to remove the locking wheel nuts by force as the concept of a master key that some 350z owners alluded to was soundly rejected by the Nissan garages I spoke to. This will cost me about £150.
2. No-one (other than eBay sellers) have a set of nuts in stock so it'll be the New Year before I can fix the issue. This will cost me a further £65. EBay would be cheaper but I'm less inclined to trust on this one.

At least I was able to replace the rear view mirror that Autoglass broke. They were supposed to replace it but, after a month of silence on the matter, I found a second hand mirror on eBay for £20 and fitted it myself. This car has enough blind spots without making It worse driving on side mirrors only. It helped that the Autoglass chap who did the damage had already fixed the bracket to the windscreen so I didn't have to worry about that bit.

If the mirror hadn't turned up earlier than expected it's likely I wouldn't have spotted the car had been tampered with until Christmas Eve when I would be trying to drive to Mum's.

Decided not to work today and instead will get the car jump started and taken for a drive.

[Dactylion]

1. I have to book a garage that has the equipment to remove the locking wheel nuts by force as the concept of a master key that some 350z owners alluded to was soundly rejected by the Nissan garages I spoke to. This will cost me about £150.
2. No-one (other than eBay sellers) have a set of nuts in stock so it'll be the New Year before I can fix the issue. This will cost me a further £65. EBay would be cheaper but I'm less inclined to trust on this one.

:-O
Are Nissan 350z locking nuts "special"?

I thought "locking" wheel nuts were basically nuts/bolts without a standard Hex-head (but with some odd-shaped cutouts that fit to an adapter - allowing for the nut/bolt to be tightened/loosened)

and that removing them (without the correct adapter) was "just" a case of drilling a pilot hole and then using a tapered "reverse" thread gizmo to loosen them enough (obviously buggering the nut/bolt in the process). A big-boy version of damaged screw removing tool you can get in DIY stores!

I know, many years ago, when MrsD "lost" her adapter and suffered a puncture that's how they did it, it may even have been done 'roadside'.

Unless of course I am just showing my dinosaur age and things are more hi-tech now?

As to replacements - Halfords?

[NickFitz]

Afternoon denizens

Another grey day adorned with little light drizzle, though that's expected to stop soon. Bit breezy again, too. It's mild at 10°C which is the high for the day, and the barometers are heading back up at 998/1006mB

Today I shall mainly be thinking it's Saturday or possibly Christmas Eve, then remembering it isn't

[NickFitz]

Oh, and a happy Winter Solstice to all!