Sunday, November 09, 2014
Saturday, November 08, 2014
Measure twice
We went to the local furniture store and bought a bedside table and mirror for the spare room. Worried that GF would mount the mirror askew, GF followed the old adage about measuring twice. This done, the mirror was fixed without incident. And it's level.
So why the the title of this post?
We then went to put the sheets on the bed. We bought them for a King-sized bed. The label clearly says they should be 150x200 cm.... but they don't fit. GF was intrigued, so measured the sheet. It was clearly too small - only 130x182cm. Frustrating when we had bought the new bedding specifically for the bed (and checked the measurements in advance).
We are expecting the Silver Vixen's brother this afternoon. So we should have some fun.
So why the the title of this post?
We then went to put the sheets on the bed. We bought them for a King-sized bed. The label clearly says they should be 150x200 cm.... but they don't fit. GF was intrigued, so measured the sheet. It was clearly too small - only 130x182cm. Frustrating when we had bought the new bedding specifically for the bed (and checked the measurements in advance).
We are expecting the Silver Vixen's brother this afternoon. So we should have some fun.
Friday, November 07, 2014
Dealer, again
Thee phone rang. It was the local dealership. The Silver Vixen's car has arrived on site so the Gorse Fox has made an appointment to see them in the morning and get the insurance sorted out and arrange when to collect the vehicle.
Dealer
We stopped at the car dealer to see if the Silver Vixen's new car was on site yet. It looks like it still hasn't arrived, so we popped in to speak to sales chap. There were no sales staff on duty so we met the new Manager. He couldn't answer the "when" question - only having started in the last week, but he did offer to move heaven and earth - or lend us his own car if we needed it. We weren't interested in people fiddling with the earths progress round the sun, nor dabbling with its axis - but were impressed with the offer of his car. The chap should do well as he is clearly focused on the customer.
Thursday, November 06, 2014
Master Socket
Ah ha! The BT Technical chappie called and we had a long chat. We discussed the slow broadband and possible causes. We also discussed the fact that it seems to be endemic, as most people that Gorse Fox has spoken to on the development seem to be having similar problems.
Eventually we got down to some testing and opened up the test socket. This had a significant difference in that the speed of the connection doubled. Now the question is where is the loss - inside the socket or inside the house wiring?
Engineer scheduled for Monday.
Eventually we got down to some testing and opened up the test socket. This had a significant difference in that the speed of the connection doubled. Now the question is where is the loss - inside the socket or inside the house wiring?
Engineer scheduled for Monday.
Wednesday, November 05, 2014
Assassin
Thhe football coach referred to the Gorse Fox as "The Assassin" as the Gorse Fox side-stepped round him to score his second of three goals in a 4-2 win. This was followed by practising taking penalties - after the first 8 (one for each of us) the Gorse Fox went in goal for the next 8. He was obviously feeling alert today - saving 7 out of the 8 penalties.
Good game.
Networks - pah!
The Gorse Fox has always commented that despite 43 years in IT, he has no appreciable knowledge of networks.
The arrival (eventually) of the bT Hub yesterday has stretched what little knowledge he had to its limits. The Hub is set up to use a different range of network addresses - and unlike the preceeding Netgear hub, doesn't allow simple configuration of static addresses - they have to be done in the client devices. This meant a load of faffing around and changing of addresses in various machines. Eventually everything is pretty stable... except the Gorse Fox's backup system which steadfastly refuses to handle the re-addressed NAS devices in a consistent and trustworthy manner.
This is obviously going to take some mucking about. But that can wait until after today's football.
The arrival (eventually) of the bT Hub yesterday has stretched what little knowledge he had to its limits. The Hub is set up to use a different range of network addresses - and unlike the preceeding Netgear hub, doesn't allow simple configuration of static addresses - they have to be done in the client devices. This meant a load of faffing around and changing of addresses in various machines. Eventually everything is pretty stable... except the Gorse Fox's backup system which steadfastly refuses to handle the re-addressed NAS devices in a consistent and trustworthy manner.
This is obviously going to take some mucking about. But that can wait until after today's football.
Tuesday, November 04, 2014
Good Start
The sun came up. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. It only took a few minutes for it to start drying off the fence at the side of the garden and we soon saw clouds of vapour billowing upwards in the still of the morning air.
Cliff Edge
Cliff Edge was youngest of the Gloucestershire Edges. He seems to feature in the last episode of each series of TV drama - particularly those made in the USA. It obviously keeps him very busy as each of these series finishes on a Cliff Edge.
The Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen, weary of this artifice, have come up with and successfully deployed a viewing strategy. When engrossed in a series, we keep an eye on the episode count: 1/8, 2/8 etc. (though US dramas are more likely to be 21/23, 22/23 as their seasons run for longer). We watch the series right up to the penultimate episode, then record the series finale. This recording is put on hold until the new season is released months later. Then we watch the final episode of the old series immediately before watching the first episode of the new series. Voila - Cliff Edge is rendered irrelevant as the suspense only lasts a few minutes.
(We also deploy this strategy when there is a good two-parter, such as the current run of "Lewis". We record both parts, then watch them back to back).
There you go - a little insight into "life on the edge".
The Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen, weary of this artifice, have come up with and successfully deployed a viewing strategy. When engrossed in a series, we keep an eye on the episode count: 1/8, 2/8 etc. (though US dramas are more likely to be 21/23, 22/23 as their seasons run for longer). We watch the series right up to the penultimate episode, then record the series finale. This recording is put on hold until the new season is released months later. Then we watch the final episode of the old series immediately before watching the first episode of the new series. Voila - Cliff Edge is rendered irrelevant as the suspense only lasts a few minutes.
(We also deploy this strategy when there is a good two-parter, such as the current run of "Lewis". We record both parts, then watch them back to back).
There you go - a little insight into "life on the edge".
Monday, November 03, 2014
Let down again
Well it appears that BT have let us down again. The router they promised for today has not arrived, but according to the GF's exec contact it has been closed as complete. She has immediately put in a further order for delivery tomorrow and if that makes no difference she will escalate to the technical team at Newcastle who support the chairman's office.
Putting in the new order has evidently triggered something as BT have sent an email demanding the return of the router they haven't delivered. GF can feel a fight brewing.
Putting in the new order has evidently triggered something as BT have sent an email demanding the return of the router they haven't delivered. GF can feel a fight brewing.
Expecting
The Gorse Fox is expecting a new router from BT today. Not one that he requested or ordered - but one they are sending anyway. (He is not paying for it).
He will install it and try it out - and show that the slow broadband is not a router issue - but a line/exchange issue. (We are only 2.5km from the exchange and GF is only 200m from the cabinet - so it should not be line length problems).
He waits in anticipation.
He will install it and try it out - and show that the slow broadband is not a router issue - but a line/exchange issue. (We are only 2.5km from the exchange and GF is only 200m from the cabinet - so it should not be line length problems).
He waits in anticipation.
Test Image
When the Gorse Fox has finished writing the code he hopes to post the noon image from the Pi Camera, on a daily basis. Should be an interesting exercise.
Sunday, November 02, 2014
Not so good
The Silver Vixen came along, as cheer-leader, to watch us play walking football again. To be fair she didn't have pom-poms, a crop-top, tight silky shorts, or knee-high white boots. The Gorse Fox expects that she is saving these for a more competitive game rather than a friendly.
There were not so many of us this week - so we only manages 4-a-side. The Gorse Fox was on the end of a significant tonking (to use a technical phrase). In fact he hasn't lost at anything quite so convincingly since playing for Barnet College in the late 1960s. He did manage to score a few goals, and save a few, but for every one his team scored, the other team seemed to score three or four. This was not so good, but he is convinced that once his general level of fitness returns such events will not recur.
Talking of disappointing performances - the Gorse Fox couldn't help but think that even the walking football team (all over 60) would have given Spurs a run for their money today. Ok, they won 2-1 at Aston Villa, but it was an embarrassing display. It reminded me of watching your father let loose at a disco. No idea, no rhythm, and utterly embarrassing.
There were not so many of us this week - so we only manages 4-a-side. The Gorse Fox was on the end of a significant tonking (to use a technical phrase). In fact he hasn't lost at anything quite so convincingly since playing for Barnet College in the late 1960s. He did manage to score a few goals, and save a few, but for every one his team scored, the other team seemed to score three or four. This was not so good, but he is convinced that once his general level of fitness returns such events will not recur.
Talking of disappointing performances - the Gorse Fox couldn't help but think that even the walking football team (all over 60) would have given Spurs a run for their money today. Ok, they won 2-1 at Aston Villa, but it was an embarrassing display. It reminded me of watching your father let loose at a disco. No idea, no rhythm, and utterly embarrassing.
Saturday, November 01, 2014
Stuff
The very lovely Silver Vixen was out at a workshop (broomstick making, or cauldron stirring, or something - as yesterday was Halloween, who knows!).
This left the Gorse Fox and Jasper the cat in charge. (Well, strictly it Jasper in charge - the Gorse Fox just did as he was told). The morning was spent filing a backlog of photos, writing some code, and trying various tools for making a movie out of a batch of stills. This had a modicum of success, but was hampered by the low resolution of the old webcam that GF had been using initially.
A trip to B&Q followed. This allowed GF to get the last piece of MDF for his project - and reassure the staff that I wasn't ignoring them, but had been doing other things. Back home the MDF was primed and left to await it fate. Some of the other sheets were marked up and made ready to be attacked with the router and saw.
While out GF drove to the car dealer to see if there was evidence of the Silver Vixen's new car on site yet. (It was due this week). Despite having a look around GF could not see any trace of it. Maybe it hasn't arrived, or maybe it gets delivered to their main branch in Worthing for the pre-delivery work. No doubt we will hear soon.
This left the Gorse Fox and Jasper the cat in charge. (Well, strictly it Jasper in charge - the Gorse Fox just did as he was told). The morning was spent filing a backlog of photos, writing some code, and trying various tools for making a movie out of a batch of stills. This had a modicum of success, but was hampered by the low resolution of the old webcam that GF had been using initially.
A trip to B&Q followed. This allowed GF to get the last piece of MDF for his project - and reassure the staff that I wasn't ignoring them, but had been doing other things. Back home the MDF was primed and left to await it fate. Some of the other sheets were marked up and made ready to be attacked with the router and saw.
While out GF drove to the car dealer to see if there was evidence of the Silver Vixen's new car on site yet. (It was due this week). Despite having a look around GF could not see any trace of it. Maybe it hasn't arrived, or maybe it gets delivered to their main branch in Worthing for the pre-delivery work. No doubt we will hear soon.
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