They have given us a small chopping board made out of the same material. It is incredibly heavy... so goodness knows how heavy the 3.2 metre run must be.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Fitters
They have given us a small chopping board made out of the same material. It is incredibly heavy... so goodness knows how heavy the 3.2 metre run must be.
Monday, January 30, 2017
Flushed with success
The engineer called. He was exactly on time, he was polite, and he removed his shoes as he entered. The tap that had been causing the occasional leak had been dormant for a few days, but exactly on cue it started to leak copiously this morning. As the tap was moderately expensive and still under the 5 year warranty, the Gorse Fox had called the manufacturer. Hence the arrival of the engineer.
He took one look at the problem and explained that it the o-rings, not the valve. It it had been the valve, the tap would drip; but as it's the o-rings the barrel leaks. It didn't take him long to rectify the situation and his diagnosis was that the water pipes hadn't been flushed through properly when the house was built and small bits of grit had got in to the mechanism. Seemed plausible, particularly when he dug out just such a piece of grit. All sorted now - just in time to have the worktops fitted tomorrow.
Most of the rest of the day has been spent writing code. There are a few things that the Gorse Fox wanted to tidy up in the blog and it is easier to write a program than to go through each relevant entry and make manual changes.
He took one look at the problem and explained that it the o-rings, not the valve. It it had been the valve, the tap would drip; but as it's the o-rings the barrel leaks. It didn't take him long to rectify the situation and his diagnosis was that the water pipes hadn't been flushed through properly when the house was built and small bits of grit had got in to the mechanism. Seemed plausible, particularly when he dug out just such a piece of grit. All sorted now - just in time to have the worktops fitted tomorrow.
Most of the rest of the day has been spent writing code. There are a few things that the Gorse Fox wanted to tidy up in the blog and it is easier to write a program than to go through each relevant entry and make manual changes.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Four
Well that was interesting. We had such a good turnout at the football that we had to have three teams and play a round-robin. That's the first time that has happened on a Sunday.
The Gorse Fox was playing in yellow and in the first game, lost 2-1. He was pretty happy with his game, and the fact that he scored the only yellow goal. It would have been better to win, though. We then sat out the next twenty minutes whilst the others played. We made use of the time playing on a spare pitch to keep from stiffening up. Finally we came back on to play the last game. We won this with a convincing 6-2 scoreline and the Gorse Fox was delighted to have scored three of the goals. So overall, he scored four goals which he believes is the most he has ever managed and as a dyed-in-the-wool defender he is pretty happy with that.
We have a game scheduled with a team from Winchester in about 10 days. "Chopper" Harris, now retired from Starfleet, is their top scorer. It will be nice to see him again, though I suspect he will drive across from Winchester rather than use his chopper.
The Gorse Fox was playing in yellow and in the first game, lost 2-1. He was pretty happy with his game, and the fact that he scored the only yellow goal. It would have been better to win, though. We then sat out the next twenty minutes whilst the others played. We made use of the time playing on a spare pitch to keep from stiffening up. Finally we came back on to play the last game. We won this with a convincing 6-2 scoreline and the Gorse Fox was delighted to have scored three of the goals. So overall, he scored four goals which he believes is the most he has ever managed and as a dyed-in-the-wool defender he is pretty happy with that.
We have a game scheduled with a team from Winchester in about 10 days. "Chopper" Harris, now retired from Starfleet, is their top scorer. It will be nice to see him again, though I suspect he will drive across from Winchester rather than use his chopper.
Home Alone
The Silver Vixen has one of her events today. The covens from all over the South will swoop in on Ardingly show ground. Broomsticks will fill the park and the sounds of people queuing for tea will drift across the Sussex countryside.
The Gorse Fox has his usual football this morning... and must say that he is looking forward to it. Because of the kitchen works he has missed one of his games for each of the last few weeks and will miss it again this coming week.
The Gorse Fox has his usual football this morning... and must say that he is looking forward to it. Because of the kitchen works he has missed one of his games for each of the last few weeks and will miss it again this coming week.
Saturday, January 28, 2017
UPS - installed
Well that was simple. The UPS has been installed and tested on "tawnyowl" and works nicely. All tests have passed and alerts are successfully handled and logged. The unit has now been moved to "peregrine". That was fun.
Power
That nice man from Amazon just dropped a package through the letter box. Though ordered on Wednesday, it had come all the way from Hong Kong by Saturday. Very impressive. The package contains an intelligent battery pack that can act as a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) for the Raspberry Pi known as "peregrine" which runs the Gorse Fox's private blog. He will test it all out on "tawnyowl" first but assuming it works that will provide power for breaks in the main electrical supply for 12-16 hours... and certainly long enough to allow the system to be closed down gracefully.
Friday, January 27, 2017
Nothing to see here
It's been a fairly quiet day - nothing too exciting to report. The Gorse Fox started with a trip to his kitchen worktop supplier. He had agreed to a substantial discount but we had never actually seen the bottom line (obviously we knew the full price). As the Gorse Fox will have to withdraw some funds, it was time to get the actual numbers. He was pleasantly surprised. Indeed, very pleasantly surprised. The Gorse Fox phoned the bank manager to ensure there would be problems and was assured everything was just hunky-dory.
Tuesday is the big day when the new worktops will be fitted. The Gorse Fox has mailed the gas chappy to try and schedule the reinstallation of the hob on Tuesday afternoon... but even if we have to wait another day or so, it won't be a major issue.
Other than that, most of the day has been fairly lazy. There has been a number of household chores to work through - but thats all finished now. Now the Gorse Fox is preparing a 'Spanish Chicken" tray bake whilst he writes this. He has no idea what it will taste like, but the recipe seemed promising. It is interesting trying to go for a week without the use of a hob. You tend to become inventive with the oven.
The Gorse Fox can't sign off without mentioning the fact that it is his brother-in-law's birthday today. He's only a youngster at 60, but the Gorse Fox hopes he's had a wonderful day.
Tuesday is the big day when the new worktops will be fitted. The Gorse Fox has mailed the gas chappy to try and schedule the reinstallation of the hob on Tuesday afternoon... but even if we have to wait another day or so, it won't be a major issue.
Other than that, most of the day has been fairly lazy. There has been a number of household chores to work through - but thats all finished now. Now the Gorse Fox is preparing a 'Spanish Chicken" tray bake whilst he writes this. He has no idea what it will taste like, but the recipe seemed promising. It is interesting trying to go for a week without the use of a hob. You tend to become inventive with the oven.
The Gorse Fox can't sign off without mentioning the fact that it is his brother-in-law's birthday today. He's only a youngster at 60, but the Gorse Fox hopes he's had a wonderful day.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Break a Leg
The Silver Vixen is an ardent follower of the author Peter James and his books. One of his early books has been developed as a play and is scheduled to be presented in Woking and in Brighton next month.
We tried to get tickets for one of the Brighton shows, but there was nothing available. A little bit of discussion and a little thought and we tried the Woking run. No problem. Good tickets have been ordered for a matinee in February. Looking forward to it.
We tried to get tickets for one of the Brighton shows, but there was nothing available. A little bit of discussion and a little thought and we tried the Woking run. No problem. Good tickets have been ordered for a matinee in February. Looking forward to it.
Trip
A bit of excitement in the household today as Cousteau Cub confirmed her flights for a visit home. She managed to get a really good price on some BA flights in June. Looks like she'll be home here for 3 weeks.
Scammers
The Gorse Fox is normally a trusting individual. This, however, does not extend to his various interactions on the web. So it was that the Silver Vixen came to his study with her MacBook which had an error message and a verbal warning regarding a virus.
First warning sign is that the Gorse Fox has an anti-virus program installed on the Silver Vixen's machine. Second warning sign was that it asked her to phone an 0800 number to get help to remove it.
The Gorse Fox hit google and sure enough found that it was a scam which was probably part of the payload in some Ad. He followed the instructions on the Apple website and the problem seems to have gone away. He's now running a full anti-virus check to satisfy his innate paranoia. He wonders how many people would have been caught out by this... it was quite convincing.
First warning sign is that the Gorse Fox has an anti-virus program installed on the Silver Vixen's machine. Second warning sign was that it asked her to phone an 0800 number to get help to remove it.
The Gorse Fox hit google and sure enough found that it was a scam which was probably part of the payload in some Ad. He followed the instructions on the Apple website and the problem seems to have gone away. He's now running a full anti-virus check to satisfy his innate paranoia. He wonders how many people would have been caught out by this... it was quite convincing.
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Balls and Calls
It was misty, damp, and cold. Not the most inspiring weather for today's football. The Gorse Fox had been looking forward to the game, having missed out yesterday whilst waiting for the Neff engineer. We had a good turn out and the Gorse Fox appointed two captains and we soon had the sides ready and raring to go. As always it was a close fought game, ending 3-2 in favour of the orange team (for whom the Gorse Fox was playing). He didn't score any goals today, but felt that he had a really good game anyway.
Back home there was a snack lunch then the Silver Vixen started on the weekly shopping list and the Gorse Fox headed for his study. It was at this point that the phone rang. It was Cousteau-cub. We had a lovely long chat - though it was interrupted several times by the internet connection failing. Once we had caught up on all of the news we discussed when she might pop home for a visit (to see Urban-cub and her cub, when the time comes). In the end we decided that leaving it until June was probably the sensible thing.
The rest of the afternoon has been occupied with the 1991 diaries. These are now complete and digitally saved. Each book ticked off the list is a great relief.
Back home there was a snack lunch then the Silver Vixen started on the weekly shopping list and the Gorse Fox headed for his study. It was at this point that the phone rang. It was Cousteau-cub. We had a lovely long chat - though it was interrupted several times by the internet connection failing. Once we had caught up on all of the news we discussed when she might pop home for a visit (to see Urban-cub and her cub, when the time comes). In the end we decided that leaving it until June was probably the sensible thing.
The rest of the afternoon has been occupied with the 1991 diaries. These are now complete and digitally saved. Each book ticked off the list is a great relief.
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Relief
Well that's a relief. The problem with the oven was really quite minor and the engineer fixed it very quickly. The electrician, it appears, had failed to tighten the screws which held the terminals into the power supply in the wall. It could only be solved by removing the unit, so was not something the Gorse Fox could have sorted himself. The chap did have a very useful appliance. It was a stand, on wheels, with a screw jack that allowed a table-like surface to be raised or lowered. This was raised to the level of the oven and the oven was simply pulled out onto the appliance and oven out the way. Simple, and a single person job.
Sorted.
Sorted.
Powered Off
The Gorse Fox has powered off the West Sussex Data Centre again. The Neff engineer is due today and the Gorse Fox expects the power will take an interrupt at some point. It will, however, be nice to have the new combination oven working again. Ten minutes is all it's managed so far. That seems a little short in terms of its built-in cycle of obsolescence.
Monday, January 23, 2017
And breathe
It all started at nine o'clock. The kitchen/gas chappie knocked on the door and started to disconnect the hob. Twenty minutes later as he was finishing, the kitchen fitters arrived. As we ushered out the gas man, we ushered in the fitters.
The fitters looked around. Drank some tea and coffee, sucked on their teeth and then launched into the task of dismantling the old work tops.
They had been well fitted and were not going to come out easily. A little bit of persuasion (with hammer and chisel) made all the difference and soon the cabinets stood free and topless.
Two Hats and Tinkerbell are having the same outfit do their kitchen so the fitters went next door to get started. Jasper came to investigate and curiosity demanded he have a wander around in the top of the units.
A few minutes later one of the fitters returned. He had left his mate todestroy dismantle next door's kitchen and he had come back to start creating the templates for the new work tops. This was essentially a manual task, using traditional skills. Large acrylic sheets were laid on the cabinets and manoeuvred to created the semblance of the new work tops. Measurements were taken, the sheets were marked up, and slowly the vision started to take place. Overhangs were calculated, corners rounded and fixing points identified. It took him about an three quarters of an hour, but the Gorse Fox was impressed with the care that was being taken.
Soon it was done and whilst the template chap went next door, the demolition chap returned to replace our old worktops. It was done. Now we just await the stone to be cut and the chaps to return next week and finish off.
The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox spent a while returning everything to their respective cupboards and making the kitchen moderately serviceable again.
The afternoon involved some thought about supper and how we will cater for the next few days with no hob. Tonight will see roast vegetables, baked potatoes and the remains of yesterday's chicken casserole. Meanwhile a meatloaf is cooking in preparation for tomorrow.
They had been well fitted and were not going to come out easily. A little bit of persuasion (with hammer and chisel) made all the difference and soon the cabinets stood free and topless.
Two Hats and Tinkerbell are having the same outfit do their kitchen so the fitters went next door to get started. Jasper came to investigate and curiosity demanded he have a wander around in the top of the units.
A few minutes later one of the fitters returned. He had left his mate to
The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox spent a while returning everything to their respective cupboards and making the kitchen moderately serviceable again.
The afternoon involved some thought about supper and how we will cater for the next few days with no hob. Tonight will see roast vegetables, baked potatoes and the remains of yesterday's chicken casserole. Meanwhile a meatloaf is cooking in preparation for tomorrow.
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Nostalgia
Another very chilly start to the day. The Gorse Fox was pleased that today's football was scheduled for the indoor arena.
The game itself was fun - though, at 7-a-side, was a little busy in the short-form pitches. When the teams were first selected it looked like another case of defence versus attack - but the Gorse Fox's team of defenders did ok and ran out 5-2 winners. The Gorse Fox was pleased to score a fine goal with a volley from the half-way line. Very satisfactory.
Back home there was preparation needed. Tomorrow the fitters come to remove the existing work surfaces and create a template to describe the new work surfaces to be cut and installed. This meant a going through and emptying the top shelves of all the units and cupboards. Fortunately we have the Orangery so the kitchen doesn't look too cluttered - but there was a lot of stuff to shift.
The rest of the afternoon has been spent working on old diaries, again. This, while not categorised as 'fun', is at least an opportunity for a little nostalgia. The Gorse Fox may be making progress, but it is very slow and there are many more diaries still to go (some years the Gorse Fox was fairly terse but other years he was expansive in his description of the day) - it's going to take a long time.
The game itself was fun - though, at 7-a-side, was a little busy in the short-form pitches. When the teams were first selected it looked like another case of defence versus attack - but the Gorse Fox's team of defenders did ok and ran out 5-2 winners. The Gorse Fox was pleased to score a fine goal with a volley from the half-way line. Very satisfactory.
Back home there was preparation needed. Tomorrow the fitters come to remove the existing work surfaces and create a template to describe the new work surfaces to be cut and installed. This meant a going through and emptying the top shelves of all the units and cupboards. Fortunately we have the Orangery so the kitchen doesn't look too cluttered - but there was a lot of stuff to shift.
The rest of the afternoon has been spent working on old diaries, again. This, while not categorised as 'fun', is at least an opportunity for a little nostalgia. The Gorse Fox may be making progress, but it is very slow and there are many more diaries still to go (some years the Gorse Fox was fairly terse but other years he was expansive in his description of the day) - it's going to take a long time.
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Engineer
After some to-ing and fro-ing this morning the Gorse Fox has managed to secure the visit of a Neff engineer to try and sort out the failed oven. As we are likely to be without our hob for a week or so (while the worktops are replaced, it would have been nice to have a working microwave).
Meanwhile, the rest of the morning was spent coding. An existing program has been radically extended so that it fulfils a much wider brief than its original design requirement. Merging code from several routines made it a lost easier, and the fact that the Gorse Fox always follows a particular style and standard makes the merger very simple. Code is now running and has triggered a whole slew of further ideas. In its own right the code added a further 186 entries into the Gorse Fox's private blog - so progress is being made.
Meanwhile, the rest of the morning was spent coding. An existing program has been radically extended so that it fulfils a much wider brief than its original design requirement. Merging code from several routines made it a lost easier, and the fact that the Gorse Fox always follows a particular style and standard makes the merger very simple. Code is now running and has triggered a whole slew of further ideas. In its own right the code added a further 186 entries into the Gorse Fox's private blog - so progress is being made.
Friday, January 20, 2017
Blast
Combi oven managed to microwave one batch of rice then, while doing the initial burn in of the oven features, it packed up. Not amused.
Will phone John Lewis and/or Neff in the morning.
Pooh!
Ready, steady, go
It had been a quiet morning, waiting for the electrician. Then suddenly the pace changed.
The doorbell rang - it was delivery of the Silver Vixen's new Passport. The Gorse Fox settled back down...
The doorbell rang - it was Two Hats. He was returning to the work surface supplier with Tinkerbell to have one more look. Thin, he wanted to tell them to go ahead and was checking whether we had any constraints. We told him no, go for it.
While Two Hats was discuss ing this with us, the door bell rang - it was the electrician. He and his mate set straight to work and 20 minutes later all was working and we had a fully functional Combi-Oven.
While the electricians were at work, the door bell rang - it was the nice man from the Amazon with a delivery. Things were getting busy, but settled back down as quickly as they had started. We had to get into Chichester so headed off, only to join a huge queue of traffic. We did an about turn and took an alternative route through Runcton - arriving with a few minutes to spare before our various appointments. The phone buzzed. It was Two Hats. They had given the go ahead and the fitters want to start on Monday.
The Gorse Fox spluttered. "Yes, ok" he said, then worried about whether he could cajole the gas fitter to come and disconnect the hob in time. A frantic email and follow-up phone call confirmed that it can be done.
Excitement over for the day.
The doorbell rang - it was delivery of the Silver Vixen's new Passport. The Gorse Fox settled back down...
The doorbell rang - it was Two Hats. He was returning to the work surface supplier with Tinkerbell to have one more look. Thin, he wanted to tell them to go ahead and was checking whether we had any constraints. We told him no, go for it.
While Two Hats was discuss ing this with us, the door bell rang - it was the electrician. He and his mate set straight to work and 20 minutes later all was working and we had a fully functional Combi-Oven.
While the electricians were at work, the door bell rang - it was the nice man from the Amazon with a delivery. Things were getting busy, but settled back down as quickly as they had started. We had to get into Chichester so headed off, only to join a huge queue of traffic. We did an about turn and took an alternative route through Runcton - arriving with a few minutes to spare before our various appointments. The phone buzzed. It was Two Hats. They had given the go ahead and the fitters want to start on Monday.
The Gorse Fox spluttered. "Yes, ok" he said, then worried about whether he could cajole the gas fitter to come and disconnect the hob in time. A frantic email and follow-up phone call confirmed that it can be done.
Excitement over for the day.
Power off
All the powered computers and drives have been powered down. Only battery driven systems are still up. Electrician is due soon to sort out the wiring that the oven installer cocked up.
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Lunch
It was another very cold morning but as we had no need to go out early it wasn't really a problem. The usual admin kicked off the day and that was augmented by completion of a few more historical diary entries from 1989. This was one of the years when we created a treasure hunt for the cubs to find their Christmas presents. Reading the diary entries (and the clues) brought back some excellent memories.
Once the admin was done we headed out to Urban Cub's house. We had arranged to meet up and see how she was getting on. They certainly have been busy and the house already looks straight. Only one or two boxes are left to unpack. We sat and chatted for a while, then all went off to the local garden centre for a lunchtime snack.
On the way home we dropped in to the work-surface suppliers for one last check on the choice of colours. Seeing the choice that Tinkerbell and Two Hats had made yesterday caused us to question our initial choice. Examining the two samples side-by-side convinced us that we had chosen well and we stuck with our selection. We are a bit busy tomorrow, but hopefully we can trigger the whole process on Monday.
Once the admin was done we headed out to Urban Cub's house. We had arranged to meet up and see how she was getting on. They certainly have been busy and the house already looks straight. Only one or two boxes are left to unpack. We sat and chatted for a while, then all went off to the local garden centre for a lunchtime snack.
On the way home we dropped in to the work-surface suppliers for one last check on the choice of colours. Seeing the choice that Tinkerbell and Two Hats had made yesterday caused us to question our initial choice. Examining the two samples side-by-side convinced us that we had chosen well and we stuck with our selection. We are a bit busy tomorrow, but hopefully we can trigger the whole process on Monday.
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