What's made you grumpy today?

[The Panda Nut]

On the schools issue, I have found that so many young people struggle to write anything. So little time is spent on handwriting it seems, then later, everything is done on screen, so they learn to type with two fingers. Hand them a fountain pen, and they'll destroy the nib.

As for climbing the stairs and forgetting why, been a member of that club for a few years now. For many more, I've been 'losing' tools. Use it, put it down beside you, can't find it a few moments later. Yet, there it is when clearing up. These things hide. I bought a set of small picks a year or so ago. Used them once, no idea where they've gone.

I have issued another general order to my tools.

General Order No. 2
Hand and power tools
Any tool found to be 'hiding' before, during and after works will be shot. This includes circular saws like the one found recently after two months of hiding in plain sight. Tools hiding in plain site is now a capitol offence.

By order Panda Nut.

Or should that just be Nut!
That circular saw evaded capture fow weeks and was eventaully found hiding in a disused cabinet from my daughters house sored in teh gargae, It MUST have walked in there by itself and then moved the cabinet against the wall so the door was inaccessible. As for the cabinet, it too will be executed and go to the crematoria. (Woodburner)

If I could have back the time wasted looking for tools and stuff that hide, I would have finished my building works and moved on to something more fun. .......about 6 months ago!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I have issued another general order to my tools.

General Order No. 2
Hand and power tools
Any tool found to be 'hiding' before, during and after works will be shot. This includes circular saws like the one found recently after two months of hiding in plain sight. Tools hiding in plain site is now a capitol offence.

By order Panda Nut.

Or should that just be Nut!
That circular saw evaded capture fow weeks and was eventaully found hiding in a disused cabinet from my daughters house sored in teh gargae, It MUST have walked in there by itself and then moved the cabinet against the wall so the door was inaccessible. As for the cabinet, it too will be executed and go to the crematoria. (Woodburner)

If I could have back the time wasted looking for tools and stuff that hide, I would have finished my building works and moved on to something more fun. .......about 6 months ago!

Oh dear, I see so much of myself in this. What I really need to do is clear out all the "useful" crap I've got stored in my garage and shed, then there would be far less places for "stuff" to hide. Trouble is every time I try to do it, mostly what I end up doing is moving the "useful" stuff from one part of the garage/shed to another place and eventually not even ending up with enough stuff to fill Becky's boot!

 

[The Panda Nut]

Oh dear, I see so much of myself in this. What I really need to do is clear out all the "useful" crap I've got stored in my garage and shed, then there would be far less places for "stuff" to hide. Trouble is every time I try to do it, mostly what I end up doing is moving the "useful" stuff from one part of the garage/shed to another place and eventually not even ending up with enough stuff to fill Becky's boot!

 

[The Panda Nut]

I have a triple garage, sadly in line, but its got a pretty big roof and its FULL. I am however going to start clearing it next summer. Im going to repaint my chimney and then get shot of my scaffold tower. If there is a mad younger DIYer here that wants an old scaffold tower let me know as I dont expect I can sell it. It dates back to around 1960 but its still sound and I had it extended. Not something you need often but very useful to have if you have the space to store it. Then I must have a dozen fence posts, rolls of wire netting various wooden bed frames and slats and a couple of vast wardrobes all of which can go in the the tool cremater. I have a drywall sander thats still new in the box. I wonder if I could make something else out of it. Maybe the handle can go so its just a sander?? What else is up there I wonder. As in every single case, its absolutely bombproof certain that I will need anything I get rid of within 24 hours of its departure. Ladders and scaffolding are to go on safety grounds. It will be nice to be able to get the car inside and open the door fully to climb out. The garage must be 12' wide at its widest..... Im actually thinking of converting it to a tiny house and selling it off separately if we move.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Noops dashboard erupted into hideouus rattles yesterday, no warning, no provocation and no reason. Its where dash board meets dashtop and radio. Can be stopped with light upward presure on the left side of the top of the radio. I cant drive it like this so radio, and possibly dash must come out. I NEED RADIO REMOVAL TOOLS NOW. cant find my old ones. Does anyone know are these panda specific please?

After weeks of aggro...
The noise is from under the dash top, just left of the demist vent grill. Ive beenv building up to looking at it brain engaged, I think its airbag related. I shall extract the glovebox and have a peep. May be it just needs a tiny piece of foam packing above. If not Im going to send it in to the dealer. Just placing a hand onto of the dash stops the noise straight away. Tapping gently induces it. A step further forwards though. Massive summer heat may be to blame. The good news is its a lot less bad now and stops when the car is warm. What a bu* er!
Things like this have seen many cars sent packing, but I still love this Panda!!!

 

[StevenRB45]

Outside lane of the A1 was sheet ice this morning...

Nowt happened but that was an adventure

 

[porta]

After weeks of aggro...
The noise is from under the dash top, just left of the demist vent grill. Ive beenv building up to looking at it brain engaged, I think its airbag related. I shall extract the glovebox and have a peep. May be it just needs a tiny piece of foam packing above. If not Im going to send it in to the dealer. Just placing a hand onto of the dash stops the noise straight away. Tapping gently induces it. A step further forwards though. Massive summer heat may be to blame. The good news is its a lot less bad now and stops when the car is warm. What a bu* er!
Things like this have seen many cars sent packing, but I still love this Panda!!!

I remember having to take out a ‘regrettable’ (Regatta) dash to get to a persistent rattle from multiple areas…discovered the customers kids had been putting change down the air vents!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Coal effect gas fire in the living room has been looking rather sad just of late. It's because, after a number of years use, the fake ceramic coals have lost some of their volume and settled down in the gas bed. I've been slightly concerned because this means they are almost resting on the burner orifices, but also it's looking like a fire that's needing some more fuel. I ordered a genuine new coals set from Gazco - the manufacturer - at nearly doubled the cost of eBay bargain buys because our local fireplace specialist advised me to. He also told me to get them on line as he'd take a mark up and he knows I will change them myself. Taken me about five hours in total mainly because three of the eight screws which hold the glass front in place didn't want to play the game. Ended up running a die down the screws M6 and a tap into the holes. Found a new use for ceramic brake grease too - all 8 fixings treated and screwed in beautifully! Now looks a treat
I'll try to get a picture of it for you

How's that!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Ref my last post. The "grump" was because I thought those 3 seized screws were going to shear and they're threaded into captive fittings in the sheet metal frame. Would have been a nightmare to sort out. However, gently gently with plus gas and lots of toing and froing and they came out. Now sweet as a nut with the Ceramic brake grease to make next time easier.
By the way, yes I know about that crack. It's in the inner block walling and is not repeated in the outer brickwork of the cavity construction. My Civil Engineer daughter tells me the house is definitely not going to fall down because of it and is consulting with colleagues about what's going to be best to do about it. Probably stitching, but there's a new American adhesive injection system which makes much less mess but, of course, costs more. We'll see.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Ref my last post. The "grump" was because I thought those 3 seized screws were going to shear and they're threaded into captive fittings in the sheet metal frame. Would have been a nightmare to sort out. However, gently gently with plus gas and lots of toing and froing and they came out. Now sweet as a nut with the Ceramic brake grease to make next time easier.
By the way, yes I know about that crack. It's in the inner block walling and is not repeated in the outer brickwork of the cavity construction. My Civil Engineer daughter tells me the house is definitely not going to fall down because of it and is consulting with colleagues about what's going to be best to do about it. Probably stitching, but there's a new American adhesive injection system which makes much less mess but, of course, costs more. We'll see.

When I saw the picture I wondered if the gas pipe runs in the wall there, or something else (a bit too much to the side for the isolation switch wiring) but it may be something like the pipe for the gas expanding/contracting when the fire is in use. and the outer plaster cracking as a result.

In our last house we had lived in for 10+ years, it was a relatively new build only 4 years old when we moved in, an old converted brewery maltings. There were a lot of settling in cracks that would appear over the course of the 10 or so years we lived there and many were an easy fix with some wall filler and some sand paper to tidy up the finish. They rarely came back.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

When I saw the picture I wondered if the gas pipe runs in the wall there, or something else (a bit too much to the side for the isolation switch wiring) but it may be something like the pipe for the gas expanding/contracting when the fire is in use. and the outer plaster cracking as a result.

In our last house we had lived in for 10+ years, it was a relatively new build only 4 years old when we moved in, an old converted brewery maltings. There were a lot of settling in cracks that would appear over the course of the 10 or so years we lived there and many were an easy fix with some wall filler and some sand paper to tidy up the finish. They rarely came back.

'Fraid not. the gas pipe feeds straight through the wall behind it direct into the fire. The crack's been there for years, appeared about 6 or 7 years after we bought the house (new build) and I filled it once about 20 years ago. Unfortunately it came back. Daughter says it's most likely that, because the house is cavity wall with brick outside, board insulation in the cavity and blockwork to the inside, that the brickwork and blockwork is expanding and contracting at different rates. She tells me this sort of construction is now strongly recommended to have drywall - plasterboard - interior finishing and not plastered directly to the blockwork, as ours is. Also I found interesting, she tells me that when blockwork cracks like this it doesn't shear in just one plane but staggers through the depth of the crack. This results in the crack retaining quite a lot of mechanical strength, much more than a crack in brickwork for instance. Anyway, as I say, it's been like this for years and not got any worse. She's soon to make a recommendation as to what we might do but I recon if we do nothing it's not going to fall down before us and then the kids can decide what they're going to do with it between them to get it sold! By the way, there's absolutely no signs of cracking in the exterior brick.

 

[portland_bill]

Coal effect gas fire in the living roomView attachment 476740
How's that!

From all that, I immediately noticed that the switch appears to be 'off', despite the fire burning nicely. It's a trick.

 

[portland_bill]

Very grumpy yesterday.
Part of a tooth fell off. Getting older, I'm falling apart. Dental appointment, 20 miles away.
Journey usually about 40 minutes. Set off an hour before the due time.
Almost immediately, slow traffic. Road works, temp traffic signals, let 5 through each tiime, creates long delays.
At last off we go. Except no, we don't. Whilst most of the queue ahead draws away, the 7.5t truck ahead seems to be choosing 40, in a 50 limit. Not his fault. Under his front bumper is a Peugeot SUV, driven by a middle-aged woman, oblivious to everything outside her vehicle. Speed kept changing, gnently, down to 35, up to almost 45, then down again. We hit the dual-carriageway, truck moved out for an overtake, SUV, still oblivious, gently added speed to trap the truck alongside. Eventually truck had to give up, slow and pull back in behind. As I went by, she was up to nearly 70, still concentrating on talking to her passenger.
Travel news cut in, advised of delays ahead. (Sometimes the travel news is actually relevant and useful) So, diverted across country instead of the main road. Road closed. Divert back onto main road, so join the delay, later than would have been. Through the delay, more ditherers. Then more road works. No, not works, a lane closed. All work off the side of the road, on a large, wide paved area, no risk to workers. Lane closure for parking one van.
At last got to the car park. Recently converted to pay&display, used to be pay on exit, using timed entry ticket. Park car, walk to machine, choose duration, wait 90 seconds for card to be authorised.
Had phoned dentist, she was wonderful, had seen next patient, and happy to insert temporary filling.
"40 minute" journey home, nearly two hours.

Oxford. Go visit, do the open top bus tour. Leave. Otherwise, avoid.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

From all that, I immediately noticed that the switch appears to be 'off', despite the fire burning nicely. It's a trick.

Sharp eyed you are - said Yoda. Actually the fire in the picture is the second that was mounted there. The first was a very traditional looking device with log effect. Looked very "pretty". However it was open fronted with a fan to extract the fumes and eject them through a flue in the wall behind. The fan was far from silent and annoyed us from the start. The supplier tried a new fan for us for it was just as noisy. Then the gas supply valve failed requiring replacement, luckily under warranty. Then, just outside warranty period of course, it failed again and the wood effect logs were beginning to look a bit shabby so we gave up and got the one you see in the picture. The previous, log effect one used mains to power the fan but also to power the main gas valve. We'd not given this much thought until there was an electricity outage when we discovered that the central heating wouldn't work without power and neither would the fire because it needed the power for the gas valve to activate. So, although we had gas we couldn't get any heating. That switch was an isolating switch for the old fire.

The new - coal effect - fire, has manual controls. You turn the gas supply knob and it first operates a pizo electric igniter which sparks the pilot into life - of course you can leave it riding on the pilot if you like - and then it has two flame positions, low and high, which are selected by turning the supply knob further. No mains electricity required so as long as you've got gas it works. Unlike the first fire which was open hearth and relied on the fan to suck the burnt gasses out, this has a glass front panel and a balanced flue design so no fan and it uses convection to expel the burnt gasses. Pretty much no moving parts and, so far, has worked without a glitch.

I keep meaning to take the front off that isolating switch and replace it with a normal 13amp socket which would be very handy for hoovering and Christmas tree lights. My guess would be that it'll use heavy enough wiring for that - I'm no electrician but I guess I'm looking for 2.5mm wire?

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Told you I was no electrician! looks like wire half that size will do?

 

[portland_bill]

Told you I was no electrician! looks like wire half that size will do?

Stick a 13A socket on it.
Worst case scenario, two fires instead of one.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Ref my last post. The "grump" was because I thought those 3 seized screws were going to shear and they're threaded into captive fittings in the sheet metal frame. Would have been a nightmare to sort out. However, gently gently with plus gas and lots of toing and froing and they came out. Now sweet as a nut with the Ceramic brake grease to make next time easier.
By the way, yes I know about that crack. It's in the inner block walling and is not repeated in the outer brickwork of the cavity construction. My Civil Engineer daughter tells me the house is definitely not going to fall down because of it and is consulting with colleagues about what's going to be best to do about it. Probably stitching, but there's a new American adhesive injection system which makes much less mess but, of course, costs more. We'll see.

Ive done lots of brick stitching in my daughters places and at this place too. (Here and the one in Manchester). Some along the joints and some into the corners injecting into and across the blocks. The stuff I used was epoxy resin -a variety of brands mainly Anchor Bond- but all pretty similar. It sets extremely hard. You cannot break the tubes of hardened epoxy, even with a hammer. I did some stitching by drilling across the cracks and also injected the stuff without steel. I kept pumping it in until it came out of the cracks above and below the drill holes. Anyway the result are that walls that rattled when you bashed them are now silent and sound solid when thumped. I hope it is now sound for quite a few more years You can certainly improve things with a long drill and a mastic gun with minimal mess. I also gunned away a lot of the cement rendering and opened up the corners of walls where they butted up to the outside walls of this building. There were quite severe problems. I reckon some 60 tubes of epoxy on top of the stuff used on the 15m of steels used so its glued back fairly comprehensively. Short of major demolition and rebuilding it seems a good way. We wall boarded over the top and I hope we never know if any cracks return! The Manchester place it was outside walls that I did. Its 7 years down the line and it still seems to be OK, no movement detected. One good thing is that it can be pulled into jagged layers and when you re render, the render has some reol good key to bond to. For simple cracks its a DIY job and would not require great strength or a lot of tools. On the other hand... you could just live with the odd crack.