Post a bad thing that happened in your life today

[Allan Bell]

12 hours ago, sb photos said:

MOT and service today after taking over my wife's previously trouble free car. Got hit for a larger bill than expected, additionally 2 front tyres and replacement of a leaking water pump. My daughter in Bristol also had a service and MOT today. She knew the car had issues, but was surprised with a potential £800 bill. To add to this, parts required will take a week to arrive and fit. My car was dropped off at 8:00 this morning and was picked up around 1:30 this afternoon. My old Holdsworthy touring bike is far more economical for me to maintain.

 

I was supposed to have a service and MOT today but the doctor has postponed it.🤨

 

Allan

 

[Ed Rooney]

Wow, so much bad news. Who's idea was this depressing thread? Oh yeah—that was me.  🤭

[gvallee]

No worries Edo, as I always say, there is always a silver lining to everything.

My situation, which, depending on how I look at it, I could have posted in either thread, good or bad thing that happened to me:

 

Vehicle still  broken down - bad (or is it?)

Had the diagnostic today, faulty injector - good re. having a diagnostic, bad re. the fault

Injector will have to be flown from somewhere and will take 4 days - good I needed plenty of time to catch up on my editing for Alamy

Cost - very bad (in addition to towing costs) Will have to make looootttss of Alamy sales to pay for it. Won't happen in my lifetime.

 

So it all depends how you look at things. It could be much much worse.

[Bryan]

On 07/10/2020 at 20:46, sb photos said:

 My old Holdsworthy touring bike is far more economical for me to maintain.

 

Getting parts is becoming difficult though. I can't get a decent quality wide range freewheel to fit to the mavic hub on my aged Nigel Dean tourer. I tried a couple of pricy freewheels imported from the States, but the ratchets in both of them failed after hardly any use. This persuaded me to buy a new tourer for my 65th birthday, not the most reliable of machines......

 

Even 7 speed cassettes are an endangered species. I managed to buy one from Spa cycles for my wife's 20 year old Orbit tourer, but, ominously, they were offered at a bargain price, so probably end of line. Should perhaps have bought two 🙃

[Bryan]

22 hours ago, gvallee said:

No worries Edo, as I always say, there is always a silver lining to everything.

My situation, which, depending on how I look at it, I could have posted in either thread, good or bad thing that happened to me:

 

Vehicle still  broken down - bad (or is it?)

Had the diagnostic today, faulty injector - good re. having a diagnostic, bad re. the fault

Injector will have to be flown from somewhere and will take 4 days - good I needed plenty of time to catch up on my editing for Alamy

Cost - very bad (in addition to towing costs) Will have to make looootttss of Alamy sales to pay for it. Won't happen in my lifetime.

 

So it all depends how you look at things. It could be much much worse.

 

Easy to be wise after the event, but do you not have breakdown insurance?  Maybe it's too expensive for your style of rugged touring in remote locations?

 

On the positive side, a failed injector - could have been a lot more expensive, while you are safe and well.

 

Our car developed a fault while towing the caravan in the south of France and our insurers were prepared to get the car and van home. As it transpired that wasn't necessary as we had the car fixed locally and could continue our holiday. I was particularly impressed in that the insurance company rang us up later to ask if we were still Ok.

 

 

[gvallee]

1 hour ago, Bryan said:

 

Easy to be wise after the event, but do you not have breakdown insurance?  Maybe it's too expensive for your style of rugged touring in remote locations?

 

 

We do. They paid $3,000 out of the $4,400 tow price. Bear in mind that the nearest town was 800km away and part of the way was on gravel road. There are maybe only a couple of insurance companies who would insure us for off-road. We are a 5.7 ton vehicle which does not help. If we break down on a gravel road and the tow truck is not 4x4, we are on our own. And the breakdown has to happen on a gazetted road.

 

1 hour ago, Bryan said:

On the positive side, a failed injector - could have been a lot more expensive, while you are safe and well.

 

Absolutely, agree with you entirely. We are very well prepared for those remote trips. We have a satellite phone (charged), an EPIRB, CB, lots of water and food on board. We also have an expensive off-road GPS, downloaded on a Samsung Galaxy tablet with a special mount on the windscreen. (will try to find the picture for you).

 

1 hour ago, Bryan said:

Our car developed a fault while towing the caravan in the south of France and our insurers were prepared to get the car and van home. As it transpired that wasn't necessary as we had the car fixed locally and could continue our holiday. 

 

Our breakdown insurance would pay for accommodation and car rental while repairs are being carried out but in this instance, we blew the maximum budget with the tow bill. 

 

Edited October 9, 2020 by gvallee

[gvallee]

41 minutes ago, gvallee said:

We are very well prepared for those remote trips. We have a satellite phone (charged), an EPIRB, lots of water and food on board. We also have an expensive off-road GPS, downloaded on a Samsung Galaxy tablet with a special mount on the windscreen. (will try to find the picture for you).

 

Here you are.

 

http://

 

It's actually funny. Our right hand side GPS is a townie. See what it knows of the Outback?? Ha ha.

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2020 by gvallee

[Harry Harrison]

2 hours ago, Bryan said:

I can't get a decent quality wide range freewheel to fit to the mavic hub on my aged Nigel Dean tourer

Looking into these myself, I've got hold of a s/h 6 speed Maillard Compact in good condition which is the same width as a 5-speed. Would this Sunrace 14-28 not work for you, it's certainly cheap enough? There are quite a few new Shimano 6-speeds on ebay. Maybe you're looking for a wider range though.

[Allan Bell]

2 hours ago, gvallee said:

 

Here you are.

 

http://

 

It's actually funny. Our right hand side GPS is a townie. See what it knows of the Outback?? Ha ha.

 

 

 

 

Looks like that big open flat landscape could make a great airfield.😵

 

Allan

 

[gvallee]

2 minutes ago, Allan Bell said:

 

Looks like that big open flat landscape could make a great airfield.😵

 

Allan

 

 

We've actually taken off a few times on those roads, but that's because of potholes and bulldust holes.

[Allan Bell]

6 minutes ago, gvallee said:

 

We've actually taken off a few times on those roads, but that's because of potholes and bulldust holes.

 

Potholes! Ah, yes. You mean upside down bumps.🤨

 

Allan

 

Edited October 9, 2020 by Allan Bell

[Bryan]

9 hours ago, Harry Harrison said:

Looking into these myself, I've got hold of a s/h 6 speed Maillard Compact in good condition which is the same width as a 5-speed. Would this Sunrace 14-28 not work for you, it's certainly cheap enough? There are quite a few new Shimano 6-speeds on ebay. Maybe you're looking for a wider range though.

 

Thanks Harry, you are correct there are some freewheels available - indeed I have a new one fitted, but the range is limited.  The original was a 6 speed 13-32.

Edited October 9, 2020 by Bryan

[John Mitchell]

8 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

 

 You mean upside down bumps.🤨

 

Allan

 

 

Astronomers call those "black holes". You don't want to fall into one of those. 🙃

[MizBrown]

We've had some serious rain here for several days.   My central courtyard overflowed into the kitchen and study yesterday.  Darkish, so nothing for Alamy, though if it happens again, I will pull out the lights.   Posted some photos to FaceBook.  Streets were running like creeks and cars going through were making things messier.   South of my house, a house lost a wall, but I didn't go there to photograph.   Some parts of town were flooded over the night between day before yesterday and yesterday, so I had two people post to see if I had been affected.

 

Last night was the first time in a while that I had water coming into the house, but with cement tiles, a wet/dry vacuum does a reasonable job, and the tiles are not slippery even with standing water.  Haven't checked some gear that is in the kitchen (stands and modifiers), but most of the gear is in the upstairs room over the kitchen or in cabinets off the floor.  Gear  stored in the kitchen appears to be okay (big modifier in a bag, tripod in a bag, umbrella wrapped in a yoga mat, monopod).

 

This morning, I drilled holes in a terracotta pot that wasn't draining.   I lost an early rosemary to root rot in a plastic pot that caught roof run off, so may repot this one to a looser mix in a pot with more drainage holes. 

 

Other had worse problems.   I've had this happen once before in this house several years ago.   Generally, the solution is use the wet/dry function on the floor machine to get as much water up as possible and just let things dry.   If we get downpours again with the ground this saturated, I may get a better chance to take photos with less movement blur and noise. 

 

My cat that likes to be entertained at night was in and out of my bedroom.  The other cat stayed in the front part of the house on the other side of the courtyard and knocked things on the floor, then joined us in the back when I let the dog out in around 4 a.m. or something.

 

It could have been worse. 

[Ed Rooney]

Looks like I'l have to say toodaloo to my trip to Chester Zoo. The weather looks uninviting, and the new restrictions that will be announced Monday, Oct 12, might not make the train ride possible. 

[sb photos]

On 09/10/2020 at 08:47, Bryan said:

 

Getting parts is becoming difficult though. I can't get a decent quality wide range freewheel to fit to the mavic hub on my aged Nigel Dean tourer. I tried a couple of pricy freewheels imported from the States, but the ratchets in both of them failed after hardly any use. This persuaded me to buy a new tourer for my 65th birthday, not the most reliable of machines......

 

Even 7 speed cassettes are an endangered species. I managed to buy one from Spa cycles for my wife's 20 year old Orbit tourer, but, ominously, they were offered at a bargain price, so probably end of line. Should perhaps have bought two 🙃

 

That is a worry. But the bike isn't going to get the use it used to years ago - I regularly did the annual London to Brighton ride, then cycled back to Aylesbury the next day. Also cycled 11 miles into work, then back for some years in all weather. Weekends a group of us would go on a 50 - 60 mile ride to a pub in the countryside regularly. I'm not up to that now.

Edited October 10, 2020 by sb photos

[Bryan]

9 hours ago, sb photos said:

 

That is a worry. But the bike isn't going to get the use it used to years ago - I regularly did the annual London to Brighton ride, then cycled back to Aylesbury the next day. Also cycled 11 miles into work, then back for some years in all weather. Weekends a group of us would go on a 50 - 60 mile ride to a pub in the countryside regularly. I'm not up to that now.

 

Yes Steve I recall riding with our local  CTC group on weekend trips, but 30 years ago the roads were a good deal quieter and less dangerous than now. They also arranged cycling holidays and we enjoyed a couple of trips to France and another to Poland, but all good things come to an end. However those trips gave my wife and I confidence to make our annual holidays bike tours in Europe, where the standard of dedicated cycling infrastructure is so much better than in the UK, and the motorists generally more understanding. 

 

Thanks to the activities of Sustrans and some enlightened councils, things are slowly improving here, but there is a long way to go.

[Bryan]

16 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

Looks like I'l have to say toodaloo to my trip to Chester Zoo. The weather looks uninviting, and the new restrictions that will be announced Monday, Oct 12, might not make the train ride possible. 

 

Did you ever take the ferry over to Birkenhead Edo? There is a fine public  park and, at this time of year, you should capture some autumn colour. It claims to be the world’s first publicly funded park. I can't remember the distance from the ferry landing to the park, but it's not a very large town. 

[sb photos]

2 hours ago, Bryan said:

Yes Steve I recall riding with our local  CTC group on weekend trips, but 30 years ago the roads were a good deal quieter and less dangerous than now.

 

Yes, I too went on a few CTC rides. For day rides we used to meet early on a Sunday morning under the town hall arches. They would stop for lunch, sometimes at a cafe. We named our non CTC rides the pint and pedal club runs, often picking a real ale pub by a river. We never drank too much. 

[Ed Rooney]

16 hours ago, Bryan said:

 

Did you ever take the ferry over to Birkenhead Edo? There is a fine public  park and, at this time of year, you should capture some autumn colour. It claims to be the world’s first publicly funded park. I can't remember the distance from the ferry landing to the park, but it's not a very large town. 

 

Oddly, I've not yet made the ferry ride across the Mersey. I am planning to do that and venture into some of the outer areas of Liverpool. 

Edited October 11, 2020 by Ed Rooney

[Ed Rooney]

Sunday is as Sunday does (whatever that means?).

 

https://edostrange.blogspot.com/2020/10/selfie-abuse.html

 

 

[spacecadet]

The wine has turned disturbingly brownish overnight after I racked it. Hope a Campden tablet followed by premature bottling saves it, otherwise we will have the wine vinegar we couldn't get from France this year. The beer is doing better.

[Bryan]

We ran out of bread with a delivery due the following day.

 

I was instructed to make some.

 

Armed with some out of date yeast and old packets of flour, a mix of good for you nutty grainy stuff and plain white  (not to mention a recipe for a Greggs stotty) I set to work.

 

The yeast was past it and the bread didn't rise.

 

Nevertheless it went into the oven for the regulation time and temp (15 minutes at gas mark 7). It came our looking brownish on the outside but it was pretty dense and uncooked in the centre. Cut it into quarters and back into the oven for another 10 minutes at gas mark 5. Came out very, nay extremely, dense - but edible. 

 

I've actually developed a bit of a taste for the stuff but the boss wasn't impressed. Never fear we are expecting a delivery later this afternoon  - including some fresh yeast.

 

 

[spacecadet]

21 minutes ago, Bryan said:

We ran out of bread with a delivery due the following day.

 

I was instructed to make some.

 

Armed with some out of date yeast and old packets of flour, a mix of good for you nutty grainy stuff and plain white  (not to mention a recipe for a Greggs stotty) I set to work.

 

The yeast was past it and the bread didn't rise.

 

Nevertheless it went into the oven for the regulation time and temp (15 minutes at gas mark 7). It came our looking brownish on the outside but it was pretty dense and uncooked in the centre. Cut it into quarters and back into the oven for another 10 minutes at gas mark 5. Came out very, nay extremely, dense - but edible. 

 

I've actually developed a bit of a taste for the stuff but the boss wasn't impressed. Never fear we are expecting a delivery later this afternoon  - including some fresh yeast.

 

 

If you're sticking with the bread-making may I recommend a sourdough starter. We've had one on the go since you-know-when and it does very well for the weekly pizza as well. Though I have mostly given up on the wholemeal flour as it doesn't rise well even with good yeast.

[Bryan]

2 hours ago, spacecadet said:

If you're sticking with the bread-making may I recommend a sourdough starter. We've had one on the go since you-know-when and it does very well for the weekly pizza as well. Though I have mostly given up on the wholemeal flour as it doesn't rise well even with good yeast.

 

Not sure that we will be persisting with home made bread - I used to make a lot of pizza when the kids were at home, but these days we idly buy the occasional pizza. 

 

However the sour dough starter idea is interesting thanks, and not something that I had previously encountered. My wife is slightly addicted to stotty cakes and I do have the genuine Greggs recipe - it's published in his book - so there may be further developments.