Tag Archives: electricity

Hot!

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It’s hot by English standards, though I’m sure it’s just pleasantly warm by the standards of many other nations. Fresh from re-evaluating my ambitions to live in New Mexico (due to my growing concerns about the USA), I’m also rethinking the one about moving to Australia. Even in an air-conditioned bubble or a repurposed opal mine, I’m thinking it may be a bit hot for me.

Poppies growing from cracks in concrete

Other parts of the country are either hotter or cooler. Look at Derrick’s blog or Tootlepedal’s. They, I think, represent the two extremes today. Oh dear, I just looked at TP’s blog – he is in hospital after Mountain Rescue had to bring him down after a knee injury.

Not that it’s all bad news, I must “avoid strenuous activity during the hottest part of the day” according to official advice, (I am dedicated to taking that advice), and keep the house cool, whilst drinking plenty of fluids. It’s a good thing we have government to look after us, as I wouldn’t have thought about any of that by myself They also advise people not to leave babies, pets and old people alone in parked cars. Since when have I been reduced to the level of a child or pet?

I’ve actually spent most of the day wondering about one of the great philosophical questions of our times – how does Bradley Walsh get work as an actor? He’s a lovely bloke, I’m sure, and a great question master on The Chase and irs spin-offs. He’s done a number of high-profile roles in Coronation Street and Dr Who and today I’ve been watching him in Law and Order UK.

Poppies with a bee

It’s an adaptation of the American series. It’s OK, but a bit like the Toronto version it doesn’t sparkle quite so much once it’s taken out of its natural habitat, and, as I say, Bradley Walsh in a lead role isn’t quite doing it for me.

That was my day during the Big Heat. My blood test was done quickly today and I am back in the correct range after a dramatic rise caused by the anti-biotics of a few weeks ago. The TESCO checkout broke last night. I always suspect hot weather, though it may be foreign hackers or just inefficiency. They have made a few changes recently, which is never good news. At the moment we are being warned that there might not be enough electricity – high demand for powering fans linked to low levels of wind for the windmills. If we asked President Trump for his opinion on windmills he would generate the extra wind we need. Meanwhile, keep on with building devices to use wave energy. We have plenty of waves.

Poppies in wheat field

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A Lazy Week

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I’ve just squandered a week of my life. This is partly due to waiting for a call from the builder who never called, and partly due to laziness.

I have done nothing of importance, been nowhere and written nothing apart from the blog.

Unless you count replacing a plug on Julia’s reading lamp. That’s more difficult than you think in these days of moulded on plugs.

I had three choices. One was to replace the plug with one bought from the supermarket. Julia put a stop to that one by moving it. Women have a mysterious superpower where anything they move tends to disappear.

That left two choices.

As the fault with the plug was that someone (who may or may not be the person who moved the replacement) broke the main prong (the one that works the shutter and opens up the other two holes) there is an option of wedging the shutter open with matchsticks. However, even I consider this to be a tad dangerous, despite my history of alternative electrical arrangements.

So in the end I took the plug off another appliance and used that. This avoided the necessity of moving away from the TV and going out in the cold.

And that brings me back to the question of wasting a week. I’m feeling happy, rested and in tiptop mental condition. Maybe it isn’t a waste after all, maybe I should do more of it. And maybe, as a marketing exercise, I should rebrand it as “relaxation” or even “mindfulness“.

Sorry about the picture, I’m very lazy. If I could use Photoshop I’d bung a Santa Hat on a puffin, but as I can’t, it’s another robin.

Now I’m merely simmering…

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OK, no more ranting, I’ve been comprehensively lectured on being nice by my wife, I’ve filled up on tea and I’ve just bought the bacon for my breakfast sandwiches so I’m in a mellow place. I’m far from booking my place at the Pollyanna School of Business Management but I can now type without shouting at the screen.

It’s also, accidentally, well over a day since my last post, which is good for calming down.

We had 62 kids making pizza yesterday (amongst other things), which isn’t easy. It called on all my depths of calmness, particularly as the final group seemed to contain the most irritating children of the day. At that point you have to remember that they are only young, and that to say what you really want to say to them would probably result in another complaint from the parents…

After we waved them off and had a welcome cup of tea I reflected on a day spent standing uncomfortably close to four fan ovens blasting out 200 degrees C. Maybe I should have kept my thoughts to myself and not told my wife and another colleague that their day spent out in the open air prodding bees and flowers was easy compared to my day with washing up and timings and an edible end result to produce. At least the resulting atmosphere allows me to use the welcome word “frosty”.

Then the explosions occurred.

The first one was quite small, more of a bang, and the electricity went off.

The electricity returned and we were just saying “I wonder what…” when the big one happened. My wife nearly fell off her chair and the poultry started making a commotion. It occurs to me that I’ve lived all these years and I don’t actually know the word for the noise a flock of agitated chickens makes. Then again, there are lots of words I don’t know, though I can’t tell you how many, as I don’t know them.

Outside on the lane the box on one of the poles was producing sparks like a Roman candle.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Generator and jump leads – high tech!

And that was why I had no electricity to blog until I got home. When I did get home I had to go shopping for the Wednesday evening visitors, a process made more complex by the failure of the freezers in my local supermarket. Then I had to eat ice cream. It was only at that point that I was able to power up the netbook before falling asleep in my chair.

So that is why the blog is late and I have calmed down since that last one.