test please delete

[NickFitz]

Lunch: a Sainsbury's steak slice

Still nice and Simpsonesque out

[NickFitz]

Rather an annoying afternoon. I set to work to put up the new blind in the study, one of those vertical slat things. First step was to mount the track on the top of the window recess. So I carefully measured the positions for the three brackets, then started on the first hole… and the drill can't get any further than 20mm through whatever it's made of

I tried two separate masonry bits, one of them a brand new Bosch bit, and the other of which I've used many times on brick here and at the old place (which had extremely tough bricks). No joy

So then I thought well, it's not a problem if they poke out a little into the room when they're edge on, and tried again a couple of centimetres towards the room. Still no joy

Looking at the outside of the building I now see that although most of that side is brick, the bit above the windows appears to be concrete, though it's painted white so I'm not 100%. Whatever it is, I'm not getting a drill through it any time soon

So now I need to devise an alternative method of securing the track up there. I'm thinking some kind of brackets at the side might do it, though it's fairly wide so may sag in the middle. In the meantime, I've ordered some short screws off Amazon in case they prove adequate. And also some Polyfilla for the holes, though I meant to get some of that anyway for the holes left by the brackets for the old roller blind.

Anyway, I also managed to sort out some stuff on the Swift app while recharging the drill, so it hasn't been a completely wasted day

[NickFitz]

Looking at the outside of the building I now see that although most of that side is brick, the bit above the windows appears to be concrete, though it's painted white so I'm not 100%. Whatever it is, I'm not getting a drill through it any time soon

Apparently I need an SDS drill, aka a rotary hammer drill. So I've now got one of those coming, along with a set of bits for drilling concrete

[xoggoth]

the drill can't get any further than 20mm through whatever it made of

I had the same problem with my curtain rods over the large sliding doors. It was due to a steel lintel, just covered by plaster so had to shorten screw anchors. The curtain fell down a couple of times. What I found worked was to cover the anchors and screws and base of brackets with No More Nails.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Rather an annoying afternoon. I set to work to put up the new blind in the study, one of those vertical slat things. First step was to mount the track on the top of the window recess. So I carefully measured the positions for the three brackets, then started on the first hole… and the drill can't get any further than 20mm through whatever it's made of

I tried two separate masonry bits, one of them a brand new Bosch bit, and the other of which I've used many times on brick here and at the old place (which had extremely tough bricks). No joy

So then I thought well, it's not a problem if they poke out a little into the room when they're edge on, and tried again a couple of centimetres towards the room. Still no joy

Looking at the outside of the building I now see that although most of that side is brick, the bit above the windows appears to be concrete, though it's painted white so I'm not 100%. Whatever it is, I'm not getting a drill through it any time soon

So now I need to devise an alternative method of securing the track up there. I'm thinking some kind of brackets at the side might do it, though it's fairly wide so may sag in the middle. In the meantime, I've ordered some short screws off Amazon in case they prove adequate. And also some Polyfilla for the holes, though I meant to get some of that anyway for the holes left by the brackets for the old roller blind.

Anyway, I also managed to sort out some stuff on the Swift app while recharging the drill, so it hasn't been a completely wasted day

No More Nails? Gorilla Glue?

WxoggS.

See if a magnet sticks to it.

[NickFitz]

Cheers folks. I'll give the fancy drill a try when it gets here, and I've also ordered some shorter screws in case it turns out to be something like steel up there

Tea has been ribeye steak with chips, fried onions, and beans. Very tasty steak

This was accompanied by E1 of the new series of Trucking Hell in which the car in the canal was indeed one we've seen before - they introduced it as such, asserting that "after almost ten years of" the show they had deemed it meet to include one from the archives

[NickFitz]

Just added No More Nails to the ever-growing list of things coming from Amazon tomorrow

And it occurs to me that I might encounter the same issue putting up the blinds I've got for the balcony door and the small window on the other side of the living room. Hope I ordered enough short screws

[NickFitz]

Tonight's major motion picture premiere was Fountain of Youth (2025) which was released this very day (well, yesterday now) on Apple TV+. I initially felt that it was trying to be National Treasure but was veering over the line into The Da Vinci Code. But it turned out pretty well in the end; like other Apple TV+ films I've watched, it's good but I doubt I'll ever feel like watching it again (though I'll probably make an exception for The Gorge or Greyhound - in fact, I probably should rewatch the latter)

And then a rewatch of Spider-Man 2 (2004) because I watched 1 last week so now I have to watch the rest. Unfortunately, this also applies to my recent rewatch of The Da Vinci Code but I'm trying to postpone those for a bit because… well, I mean

It's raining here now

Goodnight all

[DoctorStrangelove]

Morning.

Saturday.

Damp.

Grey.

Sunless.

Cool in here at 18.7 deg, 19.5 in the kitchen, 17.5 in the leanto.

1008 mBar, 29.766 in Hg, 756.1 Torr, 14.62 psi, (down from 1011 last night), 67% RH (Lidl electric).

Meanwhile on the 18th of January 2020 LM was in that Glasgow with sunglasses on , Brillo and BR14 popped in, and I received a Final Demand for overpayment of council tax benefit for someone who has never lived here (unless he's in the loft), to be sorted on the following Monday at the council offices (which I did).

This morning's curious dream before waking involved my late mate Martin and his shop of electronic & radio junk. Despite it having closed 25 years ago I was in there buying a dvm and some other stuff for £100. Very odd. Then it turned into the usual attempt to get home with the typical lack of success.

Walk (abbreviated) walked in the grey gloom. Rained on me a little.

Lunch: brunch. Entertainment: Moneybox waffling on about money. Bit of The News Quiz. Remember when it used to be a quiz? With Alan Coren & Richard Ingrams? About stuff that was in the news?

Then it was a bit of "Sailing to Byzantium" and "One Step from Earth", which last I'm reading backwards for some reason. I seem to do this sometimes. I recall that turgid Dawkins epic "The Ancestor's Tale" submitting to the same sort of approach.

Tea: soup etc.

Entertainment: Shaun the Sheep movie on BBC kids.

Wrecks that changed the world on PBS: Operation Crossroads and Thresher.

Ancient Aliens: dear old Wernher was inspired by aliens <click>. The bollox get ever more bolloxy by the season & they're on S21 now though feck nose what season that ep was.

Bad Skin clinic s1 e3.

Massive Engineering Mistakes S5 1&2: West, Tx, amonium nitrate fertiliser explosion. Florida: pulling all the water out of an aquifer creates a sink hole due to drawdown of the groundwater. Ooops. Spanish opera house: Valencia: covered in trencadis (stuck on bits of tile) which was falling off: wrong kind of glue. Aukland Harbour Bridge, NZ: clipon extra lanes overstressed by increasing traffic loads: welding repairs to cracks.

Bay Bridge, San Francisco, CA, earthquake induced failure. San Antonio, TX, retaining wall failure. NY billionaire's row skinny skyscraper: sway, cracking noises. Invercargill NZ, Southland stadium roof collapse: incorrect construction of one roof truss: not properly repaired after sagging during construction.

Raining. A Lot. Goodbye summer. . It was nice whilst you lasted.

[ladymuck]

Afternoon all

Cloudy. Damp from overnight rain. Currently 19 degrees ('feels like' 22) with a high of 21 expected. Potential for rain all day. Barometer down to 1011 mBar.

Sunrise 04:57; Sunset 21:00 BST

This evening HWMBO and I will be going to see The Phoenician Scheme at the cinema. It's had some mixed reviews so we'll see what we make of it.

This was accompanied by E1 of the new series of Trucking Hell in which the car in the canal was indeed one we've seen before - they introduced it as such, asserting that "after almost ten years of" the show they had deemed it meet to include one from the archives

Thank you for paying more attention than I did and clearing that up! I tend to tune out of a lot of the commentary.