test please delete

[WTFH]

Morning all
TFIF, etc
CBS, etc
Phew, what a scorcher, etc.
1032mb, 24.5C at 07:45

[DoctorStrangelove]

Morning.

Friday apparently.

Dry. Very.

Sunny. Very very.

Blue sky. Horizon to horizon.

Warmish side of cool in here at 22.1 deg, 23 in the kitchen, 21 in the leanto, 20 in the saltinghouse.

1014 mBar, 29.94 in Hg, 760.56 Torr, 14.71 psi, (down from 1015 last night), 67% RH (Lidl electric).

Meanwhile on the 31st of January 2020 reviews of "Red Joan" were read, not altogether positive it must be said, NF missed out on a trip to M&S since he was doubtful the car would start three times in a row, then had a nice trip to the M69 to charge the battery a little, wattaj popped in, BR14 popped in, WTFH popped in, and LM was inconvenienced by a signal failure & might as well have stayed in bed for all the good it did, ending up WFH, and I got wet on the trudge down town.

Washing frenzy part deux.

Trip to that Swansea to get rid of some books and pay bill. Barclays has improved things by taking away the machines I knew how to use so I paid the fecker with a cheque despite the protests of the drone.

Now contemplating cutting cards in half to stop any possibility of using them.

Shopping trip to Morrisons when back in Neath.

Lunch: brunch. Entertainment: The secret painter thing. Noon o'clock news. Antisocial. <click>.

That bollox at 13:45 about not leaving anything to his kid.

Though it must be noted that I'm not leaving anything to my dear nephew other than the hay field out the back.

Shirts in off the line & along with the pillow slips duly iRoned & airing upstairs.

Cottons in off the line & airing over the banisters.

Phew wot a scorcher.

30.3 deg in the saltinghouse, though very dry so it wasn't too unpleasant. Sun's very strong.

Lacking shorts I now have the trouser legs rolled up.

Getting outside a nice cup of mediocre coffee.

Tea: chilli con carne etc. Nice enough.

Entertainment: PM <click> Sky Arts: Discovering Forest Whitaker.

UFO bollox on Blaze.

Book. Other book.

DS9: "Blood Oath". S2 E19. Dunno why I'm watching this but there you go.

Dalgliesh S3 E1, E2.

[NickFitz]

Morning denizens

Hot day starting in a sunny vein out there. It's already 21°C and our target is 30° by mid-afternoon. In here, it's currently 25.6° by the thermometer I bought a few years ago, and 26.2° by the one from a few weeks ago - they're sat right next to each other, so I have no idea why they vary in their opinions. The barometers are down a touch at 1010/1017mB

[NickFitz]

Lunch: chicken, tomato and lentil soup

Possibly not quite the perfect choice for such weather. But I needed to make space in the freezer for newer things, so that's how it turned out

Breakfast was a couple of croissants with strawberry jam, which is perhaps slightly more summery

Down to 24.3°C in here, while it's up to 29° out there and still climbing. My neighbour across the landing is lying out on the lawn in direct sunlight while reading a book, which strikes me as rather foolhardy given the conditions

[ladymuck]

Afternoon all

Sunny, cloudless from my vantage point. Currently 30 degrees, with a high of 32 expected. Barometer down to 1020 mBar.

Sunrise 04:57; Sunset 21:16 BST

A noise woke me in the wee hours which resulted in me laying awake for a good while, trying to figure out if burglaring was afoot. It wasn't. No idea what the noise was, or whether it was even real.

[sadkingbilly]

Afternoon all

A noise woke me in the wee hours which resulted in me laying awake for a good while, trying to figure out if burglaring was afoot. It wasn't. No idea what the noise was, or whether it was even real.

'from ghoulies and ghosties, and longlegitty beasties, and things that go 'bump' in the night may the <insert god here> deliver us.

Afternoon peeps
still waiting for end cient to extract their collective digit.
oh, well..............
ker-CHING!!!!!

[NickFitz]

The mundane laundry has been done and is now drying

Due to the Incredible Not-Actually-Exploding Washer-Dryer malarkey of last Sunday, this has been done manually. And the "clean" clothes are now draped over every radiator in the place, as there isn't really anywhere else to drape them and I chucked out the clothes horse (which was on its last legs, to be fair) when I moved. At least they should dry reasonably quickly in this weather

It would help if this place had some washing lines, or even just one of those spinning things, communally held; there's a little lawn round the back of this block which could easily fit one of those without being unsightly, but is instead left to the squirrels and the magpies. I think I remember some clause in the lease forbidding setting up a clothesline, or indeed hanging things out of the windows to dry, possibly dating back to the 1930s, or maybe even to the mid-1800s - there's one from then that says I can't keep pigs here either. Anyway, I assume nothing can be done without the huge legal complications that would come with rewriting everybody's leases

I'm still dithering over what to do about the washer-dryer problem. It might be worth getting an engineer out to have a look, but the smell of overheated electric motor that led to the Fire Brigade attending makes me wonder if it's worth repairing. On the other hand, it'll be a right pain getting the old one taken away and a new one installed. But washing a bunch of t-shirts, socks, and pants by hand has certainly given me a greater sense of the need to make a decision soon, one way or the other

[DoctorStrangelove]

^^^ Generally the suppliers of the new bit of kit take away the old bit if you cross their palms with silver* during the ordering process.

*£10 or so IIRC.

[NickFitz]

^^^ Generally the suppliers of the new bit of kit take away the old bit if you cross their palms with silver* during the ordering process.

*£10 or so IIRC.

Yes, I'll definitely go for the "take it away" option!

One further complication is that because of the way the place is arranged, the standard drain hose isn't long enough to reach the siphon bit under the sink. When this machine was installed, they got around this problem with what looks like a right bodge - an extra foot or so of hose connected to the real hose at one end and the siphon at the other

The hose-to-hose connection seems largely to rely on a jubilee clip, and there's also a load of green-and-yellow tape (which I assume is supposed to be used for something to do with earth wiring but was what they had to hand) wound round the extension bit, presumably to make the clip grip properly. It works so I can't fault it that way, but I'm not sure how the installer of a new machine would feel about trying to hook up to it. Given that they'd be in their rights to say they don't deal with non-standard installations (according to the Ts & Cs I've read for various potential suppliers), I'd potentially finish up with an unconnected machine

I suspect I could probably deal with it myself though. There are parts for joining such pipes properly, and longer ones can be ordered, though not fitted at the factory. I'll have to investigate further, but it's one of those things that just adds to the hassle

[NickFitz]

Tea has been lamb steaks with chips, peas, and gravy

Not the ideal meal for such weather, but the lamb Needed to be Eaten™

It's back down to 28°C here (24° in here with the air conditioner going), and tomorrow's forecast now shows 28° as the expected maximum. But I'm looking forward to Tuesday, with a high of 19° and 55% chance of rain