Friday, 11 September 2015
Thursday, 3 September 2015
Wednesday, 2 September 2015
More Pudgy News
The Friday before last, on my way home from the hospital, there was a bang and a clunk half a mile from home, followed by a loud barking noise from the front end. The catalytic converter had finally given up the fight and the outlet pipe had fallen away leaving my entire exhaust system hanging in the breeze.
To be fair, I'd had the crack in the pipe and the broken bracket pointed out to me at the MOT back in April, and I'd made a mental note to 'have a look' at some point, but you know how a plumber's tap always drips?
Anyway, over to the Manor on Saturday to get Pudgy up on ramps and attempt a repair. An hour and a half later, lower bracket solid again and the outlet pipe welded sufficiently that a small bead of Gun Gum would finish the repair. Solid as a solid thing, and back in action again.
Until Friday last, that was, when on the way to work and less than a mile from home, everything to the rear of the cat fell off...quite literally. The centre section had broken less than an inch from the clamp joint at the back box and was scraping along the ground. I tried to tie up the exhaust with wire to get me to work, but that lasted all of another half mile. I had no choice but to get underneath, slacken off all the clamps and remove the whole lot.
Pudgy got me to work, and home again, but fuel economy was shot (no back pressure) and the noise was incredibly loud (no silencer or expansion box).
A phone call to Kwik Fit in Aber on Saturday, and new centre section ordered for yesterday. Took him down for fettling and half an hour later he's his old quiet self. £119 all in, which was actually cheaper than exactly the same repair I had in January 2013. Cheers Phil!
To be fair, I'd had the crack in the pipe and the broken bracket pointed out to me at the MOT back in April, and I'd made a mental note to 'have a look' at some point, but you know how a plumber's tap always drips?
Anyway, over to the Manor on Saturday to get Pudgy up on ramps and attempt a repair. An hour and a half later, lower bracket solid again and the outlet pipe welded sufficiently that a small bead of Gun Gum would finish the repair. Solid as a solid thing, and back in action again.
Until Friday last, that was, when on the way to work and less than a mile from home, everything to the rear of the cat fell off...quite literally. The centre section had broken less than an inch from the clamp joint at the back box and was scraping along the ground. I tried to tie up the exhaust with wire to get me to work, but that lasted all of another half mile. I had no choice but to get underneath, slacken off all the clamps and remove the whole lot.
Pudgy got me to work, and home again, but fuel economy was shot (no back pressure) and the noise was incredibly loud (no silencer or expansion box).
A phone call to Kwik Fit in Aber on Saturday, and new centre section ordered for yesterday. Took him down for fettling and half an hour later he's his old quiet self. £119 all in, which was actually cheaper than exactly the same repair I had in January 2013. Cheers Phil!
Thursday, 27 August 2015
Holy Cow!
I wish this was at the office...they seem to have tweaked my home broadband though!
Now, I know that followers in, shall we say, less remote areas or those with this new-fangled Fibre malarkey may think that 1.95Mbps is painfully slow, but let me tell you this. Fibre hasn't quite made it this far west yet, and when you are almost 3 miles from the exchange on ADSL with all overhead lines running pole to pole through trees and fields, this is as good as it's technically possible to get, and a vast improvement on the 0.5Mbps we have been used to!
Now, I know that followers in, shall we say, less remote areas or those with this new-fangled Fibre malarkey may think that 1.95Mbps is painfully slow, but let me tell you this. Fibre hasn't quite made it this far west yet, and when you are almost 3 miles from the exchange on ADSL with all overhead lines running pole to pole through trees and fields, this is as good as it's technically possible to get, and a vast improvement on the 0.5Mbps we have been used to!
Sunday, 23 August 2015
More Minor Progress
Not much to report as I've been working all last week.
Cabinet door handles procured and fitted and a pin-board up in the office. I also have the phone installed finally...I've multiplexed the phone and network down the same CAT5 cable from the Manor to the office.
Cabinet door handles procured and fitted and a pin-board up in the office. I also have the phone installed finally...I've multiplexed the phone and network down the same CAT5 cable from the Manor to the office.
Sunday, 16 August 2015
The Long Awaited Delivery
Ordered back in June, my delivery from B&Q arrived this week. Shiny new kitchen cabinet doors.
Worth the wait. They look superb!
Worth the wait. They look superb!
Thursday, 13 August 2015
What's Doing?
I've not seen the office for a week. I've been working on an eco-build over at Llanafan.
I've never done dry-lining or ceilings before. I think I'm getting the hang of it.
Energy saving advice: Insulate, insulate, and then insulate some more.
Floor poured. The whole downstairs has underfloor heating.
The entire roof space apart from the area over the balcony has been insulated to a depth of 300mm with lagging made from spun plastic milk bottles.
I've never done dry-lining or ceilings before. I think I'm getting the hang of it.
Energy saving advice: Insulate, insulate, and then insulate some more.
Floor poured. The whole downstairs has underfloor heating.
The entire roof space apart from the area over the balcony has been insulated to a depth of 300mm with lagging made from spun plastic milk bottles.
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