Reply to: test please delete

[WTFH]

Oh, and I've won £50 on the Premium Bonds!

Only £25 interest for me. That's £625 for the calendar year.

[sadkingbilly]

Morning all
hissing it down here.
still, it'll fill up the pond. <duck emoji>

Oh, and I've won £50 on the Premium Bonds!

lemme a tenner??

[NickFitz]

Oh, and I've won £50 on the Premium Bonds!

[NickFitz]

Morning denizens

What a to-do! I'd just got out of the shower, some time before eight, when the doorbell went and the Miele installation people announced their presence! The only advance warning had been an email yesterday saying they'd phone an hour before arriving, which they hadn't

Anyway, as expected, things didn't go as smoothly as they might

I explained the situation and the work that needed doing. The bloke stated that he'd never seen nor fitted one of these Miele hose extensions so he couldn't do it. I asked if I could do it and he agreed that if I did it, they'd proceed, albeit with a note that they'd used my "non-standard" connection, so I screwed the things together. He then ended up undoing my work and doing it up again, including some extra tightening with a wrench, because the hose was "twisting the wrong way" or something

As for fitting the new Miele drain hose, which I reckoned clearly falls under the category of "modifications" which can affect the warranty because it's attached to the machine rather than just screwed on: it seemed he'd never seen one of those connections either! Luckily I'd watched a YouTube video explaining how to do it, so I talked him through the process and that got fitted by him, though once again I could have done it myself

And so he was finally able to get down to business under the sink. He was also a little surprised by the non-standard valve configuration for the water inlet, though at least he didn't try to tell me I was wrong when I explained it to him. And I'd hastily taken off the blanking cap and screwed the drain attachment back on when they'd first arrived in the kitchen, hoping I wasn't cocking it up, but the first thing he did was take that off again as it was easier to fit the drain hose on it that way! Then he screwed it back on, confirming that I'd got it right in the first place

He did a quick test ("water pressure's a bit low" - well, it's got a long way to travel so maybe it just took a while to start filling) and confirmed to his satisfaction that neither the inlet nor hose were leaking. And then it was time to push it into its niche! Or not

I pointed out that the vinyl was a bit torn at one side, and though I'd tried to glue it back down, it would very likely still be troublesome. He said in that case they couldn't do it (what a surprise) but TBH I'd always thought that was a possibility or even a likelihood, and I was just happy to have the machine connected and functional!

So I said I'd deal with it; I've already got some things on the way for sliding appliances into tight spaces on, but TBH I think I can probably get away with just putting tape down over the few troublesome inches, then lubricating the feet with washing up liquid (as both the last lot and this lot suggested). So now I'm wondering whether to try with parcel tape, which I have right here, or go down and see if the gaffer tape is in the boot of the car, or pop round to the hardware shop and get some more. They did advise me not to run the machine until it's in situ, which makes sense as I could do without it wandering around the room

So they wrote up all their caveats on their iPad and I signed it, and away they went!

Meanwhile, back in the real world: it's a grey, rainy start to the day and expected to continue so until teatime when it'll be windy as well. Fairly mild for the time of year at 17°C with an expected high of 19°; the barometers have plummeted to 979/987mB

[ladymuck]

Morning all, local time 0952

Sunny, no cloud. Currently 16 degrees with a high of 29 expected. Barometer down to 1017 mBar.

Sunrise 07:44; Sunset 20:43 CEST

I'm a bit sore headed today. HWMBO and I went out for cocktails and dinner. A very delightful time was had. Glad my first meeting isn't until 12 (BST).

The breakfast in this hotel isn't as good as the other hotel.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Morning.

Wednesday?

Damp.

Grey.

Sunless.

Cool in here at 19.5 deg, 19.5 in the kitchen, 18.5 in the leanto.

988 mBar, 29.18 in Hg, 741.1 Torr, 14.33 psi, (down from 993 last night), 71% RH (Lidl electric).

No update on 14th February 2020: same page.

[WTFH]

Morning all
A bit stormy overnight, the pond is now full.
I went out in full wet weather gear for the walk earlier, but apart from a few drops blowing off trees, it remained dry.

[NickFitz]

Tonight's viewing was the fare dodgers. And later, I read a couple more Rumpole stories

I've also been busy in the kitchen, for tomorrow sees the coming of the washer-dryer installers! During a quiet spell this afternoon, I made sure the new drain hose would reach by poking it through the hole it has to go through behind the cabinets, then scrabbling in an undignified manner inside the cupboard under the sink until I was able to pull it through. It turns out it's long enough that they'll be able to attach it to the machine with it there, so there was no need to extract it again and it's good to go.

This evening, the question arose of the water inlet hose extension and the power lead, which had to go through another hole, lower down. I joined them together with one of those thick elastic bands a postman had dropped on the stairs a while back, and did some more scrabbling. The extension, being 3m, was never going to be a problem, but I wasn't sure about the power lead. Turns out it's long enough that even with the machine out where they can work on it, it can still reach its intended socket, so both of those are also ready and the installers won't have to abase themselves!

One minor point which I luckily spotted: the water hose appears to have two identical ends, one to screw onto the water thing and one to screw on to the adapter that will join it to the hose that's already on the machine. But it turns out one end has a fine gauze filter fitted which needs to be at the tap! There are no instructions but I'd seen mention of the filter in the manual, so it's a good job I checked and pulled it through the right way round or I would have risked humiliation in the eyes of the installers

So that's all as ready as I can make it, except for removing the blanking cap and refitting the drain adaptor, which will only take a minute or two in the morning… I hope

Goodnight all

[NickFitz]

Quite an enjoyable day today. I suppose this team will expect me to start being productive soon, but things don't seem quite as pressured as the last two projects tended to be quite often

It started raining about five, presumably because it had been told I had to pop round to the chemist's for the monthly prescription. However, it jumped the gun, having failed to take account of my ability to dither before actually setting off. So the very light drizzle had stopped by the time I'd made it to the corner, and it's brightened up a bit out there now

A major milestone was reached at the chemist's, where the assistant saw me coming in the door, remembered my name, and had gone in the back and fetched my stuff before I made it to the counter! It's only taken two-and-a-half years!

And as I was quite enjoying ambling about, I extended my walk to the kebab shop, so tea has been kebab and chips

[NickFitz]

Lunch was pâté on a toasted bap

I keep meaning to make a white loaf but haven't got around to it. I'll make one tomorrow, once the washer-dryer has (I hope) been dealt with

Another meeting-rich day today as it's sprint end/start time. Makes a change to be working on a project with a steady cadence again; it wasn't practical for the previous project to run that way, and the one before that was mostly just me so sprints didn't make sense

[ladymuck]

Hotel move done. Got a room upgrade. It's an old fashioned hotel, definitely could do with some updated features here and there.

Lunch was a couple of empanadas from a little shop around the corner.

[WTFH]

Morning all
Got soaked walking the dog earlier, then had a dental appointment (teeth are fine, gums are falling apart)
A very pleasant weekend of birthday celebrations for The Wife finished yesterday (her actual birthday)

[ladymuck]

Morning all, local time 1030

Quite cloudy but it's high level stuff and still bright. Currently 16 degrees with a high of 27 expected. Barometer up to 1019 mBar.

Sunrise 07:43; Sunset 20:45 CEST

Quiet morning. All packed to move hotels at checking out time. A 20 minute walk up the road.

Yesterday's dinner was at a Nikkei place. Very delicious but two of the dishes were too salty for my taste. Maybe some overuse of msg.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Morning.

Tuesday.

Damp.

Grey.

Sunless.

Blue sky in one very small part.

Cool in here at 19.4 deg, 19.5 in the kitchen, 18.5 in the leanto.

995.5 mBar, 29.34 in Hg, 746.7 Torr, 14.44 psi, (down from 997 last night),

Meanwhile on the 14th of February 2020 Churchill, AndyGarbs and vetran popped in, NF watched ST:TMP (presumably not the even more extended extended version as if the original version wasn't long enough to send you to sleep) whereas I watch ST:The Wrath of Kahn, and WTFH had flown back from SepticLand at 780mph due to tail winds.

Walk (towpath) walked. "They" have cleared the fallen tree branches, so there's now 40 in the canal between Tonna & Neath.

Lunch: brunch. Entertainment: Y&Y <click>

Freecell score: 90%, running average: 84%.

Tea: soup etc.

Entertainment: PM <click>.

Nothing on the idiot lantern: Digging for Britain <click> Repair Shoppe <click>

PBS The atomic spies <click>

[NickFitz]

Morning denizens

Sunny start, with some clouds hither and yon, and more arriving later. Going to be a bit cooler today: currently 13°C, it's only expected to reach 18° this afternoon, then cool back down and possibly (30%) rain a bit at teatime. The barometers are back up a bit at 991/999mB

I was just poking my head out of the bedroom window, taking in the view of the trees and things and seeing which members of the avian contingent were up and about, and a blue tit flew up from the small tree that spreads over the wall from the neighbouring garden, landed clinging to the wall a couple of feet to the side of the window and slightly above me, glanced quizzically at me for a second or two, then flew back down!