test please delete

[xoggoth]

Volunteery thing at local nature reserve this morning, trundling wheelbarrows full of mulch. Pure coincidence I was behind a youngish big bummed lady wearing thin lycra on a few occasions.

[NickFitz]

Lunch has been some leftover Thai bits

The heat detector in the kitchen has started making an annoying chirping noise every few minutes, suggesting its battery is on the way out. So I’m going to have to deal with that at some point

I took it down - it just twists off the baseplate - and found that it should have been replaced by late 2023! I assume the smoke detector in the hall is of similar vintage. Replacements that fit the same baseplate have been ordered and will be here tomorrow

According to the manual, taking it down should disconnect the battery. But it’s still making occasional chirping noises as it sits on the side

[DoctorStrangelove]

Lunch has been some leftover Thai bits



I took it down - it just twists off the baseplate - and found that it should have been replaced by late 2023! I assume the smoke detector in the hall is of similar vintage. Replacements that fit the same baseplate have been ordered and will be here tomorrow

According to the manual, taking it down should disconnect the battery. But it’s still making occasional chirping noises as it sits on the side

I've been known to take a club hammer to stuff that does that. .

The really irritating one was a CO monitor from the parents' house that I'd moved over here in a cardboard box of junk I'd put in the "office".

Took a while to find that. .

Particularly since it went beep once every 5 minutes.

One of the smoke detectors upstairs has a funny five minutes every now & again: the last time it did it was ?Thursday? morning at about 06:30ish.

The only good thing about it was that I'd been awake & reading a book since 05:55.

Though banging my head on the top of the door jamb didn't improve my temper much.

[NickFitz]

Tea has been chicken casserole with chips and peas

To go with it, the latest episode of Ambulance

However, just after I started eating and watching, iPlayer started spinning its spinny thing and further investigation revealed that the Internet had disappeared

Off to the hall cupboard, where it became apparent that there was no power to the socket where it’s plugged in. I got a light from the bedroom and checked, and it was definitely the socket. Further investigation showed that one of the circuit breakers in the fusebox had tripped, so I flipped it back on - and after a few seconds, it tripped again

I had a good idea what it was then. A few weeks ago, one of the rings on the hob started sparking its electric spark regularly but intermittently when the knob wasn’t held down, but it trailed off after a while. Just as I’d got dinner ready, it started doing it again, but I figured I’d ignore it until I’d eaten. Clearly there’s a deeper problem though, as once I’d turned the hob off at the wall and flipped the circuit breaker back on, it stayed on, and I was able to plug the Internet back in and get on with dinner

The only thing the hob uses electricity for is the spark thing, so I’m not going to bother investigating any further tonight. I’ll have to find a lighter somewhere, or a box of matches; I’m sure I’ve got one or the other. When I have time, I’ll see if I can work out what’s wrong, or if I need to call a service engineer out for it

As to why the socket in the hall cupboard is on a different circuit to the adjacent living room but the same one as the distant kitchen: who knows?

[NickFitz]

I've been known to take a club hammer to stuff that does that. .

The really irritating one was a CO monitor from the parents' house that I'd moved over here in a cardboard box of junk I'd put in the "office".

Took a while to find that. .

Particularly since it went beep once every 5 minutes.

One of the smoke detectors upstairs has a funny five minutes every now & again: the last time it did it was ?Thursday? morning at about 06:30ish.

The only good thing about it was that I'd been awake & reading a book since 05:55.

Though banging my head on the top of the door jamb didn't improve my temper much.

This one was still flashing its red LED every minute even though it was supposedly off, and still occasionally chirping - the manual says it should do it every forty seconds, but it was more like every forty minutes. I tried pressing the central button, which supposedly silences the low battery alarm, but instead it deafened me with test beeps. As it was in the way, I slotted it back on to the baseplate, and it’s been fine ever since! So I now have no idea what its doing

On closer examination, the label on the back says 2033, not 2023; same on the smoke detector in the hall. But the new ones are on their way, so at least I’ll have them in reserve if it turns out to be fine now