What's made you smile today?

Currently reading:
What's made you smile today?

Woke up to a white world this morning, just a light covering but all white.

I think I've talked about this before but it's worth mentioning again for those who may not have seen my historic post. Our house, built nearly 40 years ago, still had it's original wooden windows and several of the double glazed panes were "blown" with condensation between the panes and rot in several of the frames so they didn't seal properly when closed. Last year, maybe 18 months ago, we decided to replace all the windows with modern plastic ones, upgrading the spec of the double glazing at the same time. We got a few quotes and were dismayed at how much it was going to cost so decided to put things on the back burner for a while. However, shortly after that one of our neighbours was having a conservatory reglazed (taking out all the plastic roof panels and replacing with glass and other updates) I was watching the chaps (an independent small joinery business) doing the work and they really looked like they knew what they were doing, keeping everything neat and tidy as they worked (always a good indicator in my view) and, when I looked over the garden wall to their rear, they were making a lovely job of it. Their van advertised double glazing as part of their business so I asked them for a quote for my windows and they came back to me about 3 days later with a very good quote indeed. So What make of product will you use I asked. Kommerling was the reply. Well, I've never heard of them so I said so, to which they replied that they've been installing that product for some time now and consider it to be towards the upper end of the quality scale. We decided to go with them and the result has been really excellent. The windows feel really solid with a very nice latching action when you work the handles and they seal excellently - I couldn't detect even the slightest draught on any of them during the recent storm. I would also rate their sound insulation as above average. Both of my boys houses have plastic double glazing, one only about 3 years since install, and The Kommerling is definitely superior - no kidding! So, if you're considering double glazing I can thoroughly recommend this brand: https://www.koemmerling.com/en/products/

With the new glazing installed I've been systematically trying to improve the "heat leakage factor" of our house. Our walls are cavity type with outer facing brick then a small cavity then foil faced polystyrene insulating sheet fixed to the inner block work so very good for insulation. Our front and back doors are really solid wooden jobbies so I've installed a double seal all round them and even fitted key plates which stop air being blown through the key hole. The front door also has an inner door (vestibule - so a bit like an air lock) which I've also installed a seal on, the hall keeps toasty warm! The back door opens into a small utility room with a separate door to the kitchen so I've insulated that too - basically I've created an airlock at each outside door.

Just before I started thinking about renewing the windows I was up in my loft and noticed that the "blown in" loose insulating flock, which the builders had installed at original build, had settled quite a bit and was now only barely the depth of the rafters. I bought a whole load of glass fibre rolls and doubled the thickness of insulation then installed spacers and floored about half of the loft area. The hatch into the loft has always been smaller than I'd like so I ripped out the original uninsulated plywood one, enlarged the hole and installed a fully insulated one. My current project is going round the downstairs floors, especially around the skirtings - all our floors are suspended with air bricks under the ground floors - and trying to eliminate any draughts (not that I'm actually finding many).

About 5 years ago We had a new condensing boiler fitted to replace the original build, very reliable but inefficient, boiler the builders had fitted. I put a lot of thought into how I was going to manage the heat output to the house and decided to do away with the adjustable thermostat in the core of the house and install separate thermostatic valves on each radiator. I keep the spare room radiators on "ice guard" unless people are staying and the downstairs radiators on around 2.5 with the living room on around 3.25. The boiler timer turns the boiler off when we are in bed. This way the radiators individually monitor each room's temperature and cut in and out as needed. What actually happens is that the upstairs radiators rapidly heat the upstairs rooms at start up and then go into "top up" mode as the heat from downstairs rises for the rest of the day.

By taking these measures, and doing things like boiling only the amount of water needed each time in the kettle and cooking things all together in the oven at the same time etc, etc, we've almost managed to halve our utility bills. So, looking out the window this morning at the snow on my neighbour's roofs I realized most had patches where the snow had been melted by heat leaking up from the house. I popped my boots on and went out for a look at mine. I was disproportionately pleased to see an uninterrupted even covering of snow over my entire roof, both front and back. Feeling smugly very pleased with myself!

I think I've done all the stuff I can which will have a significant effect and now I'm just "tinkering" really. Anyone done anything differently or like to suggest something I've missed?
 
Well, I got the rundown of everything I did wrong on this trip from Wifey, from what I said and how I said it to voicing my dislike for hotel breakfasts and mentioning that the grandsons spend too much time on screens. Nothing new as far as I can see.

My youngest grand daughter had been wearing a headband with Baby Yoda ears. She put it on my head, looked at me, and said, "You can't be Baby Yoda because you are old. You're Yoda.
 
Well below freezing here in the Chicago area. I mentioned in another thread that one of the thermostats bit the dust on the water heater that provides heat in my garage and replaced it with the one I took out. Walked into the garage this morning after giving the unit 18 hours to do it's thing. So nice to work without having to wear a jacket. Also nice not to grab an ice cold tool and have it stick to your hand like a tongue to a frozen flag pole.

Currently working on a 1972 Arctic Cat Kitty Kat snowmobile for the grandkids. Replacing all gaskets and shaft seals on the 60cc Kawasaki and updating the almost 50 year old ignition system to electronic. Most of the old ignition parts are unobtainium now and do I really want to replace a 50 year old condenser with another 50 year old condenser. Ummm...no.
51340611504_911f291fed_z.jpg
 
The traditional game on the hill next to mine of who can fail the hardest when climbing it in the snow..

The road you're on is covered..so you decide to climb to the highest point in the area rather than take one of the two other lower options.

Sometimes it ends with a graceful slide backwards..sometimes especially on a 4x4 all 4 wheels spinning ends up with a slow shuffle sideways into a hedge as it slides off the crown of the road and very occasionally it ends in the field.

Hours of entertainment..
 
I got the new Predator engine mounted in the Kitty Kat this morning.
51725758990_a21eb87079_z.jpg

51727531090_ea5e23e092_z.jpg


Drilled four new holes to mount the engine plate... and they all lined up.😲
51727300009_a8652a86f5_z.jpg


Even the drive sprocket lined up with the driven sprocket. I'm imagining my next post on this will be in the Grumpy thread because this all went too easy and there is a major clusterf*** that I missed.
 
Was out in the car yesterday in torrential rain.

Realised it wasn't actively annoying me in any way.

This is progress, there is still a make up stain on the passenger seat..and the back door still has a dent in it from when sleep deprivation and a crying child combined to hide a big fence from the rear view camera...parking sensors and my wife.

But in general the odds and sod's it's had since the Mazda went and my getting used to its "quirks" (read as the absolute lack of care Citroën take when setting up controls to get a consistent feel if you wish) have rendered it pleasant.

So the wipers actually work and don't squeak...the inside of the windows are clean and don't mist up now, the brakes are smooth and powerful. When driven with a bit of skill it is comfortable and quite rapid place to be...although I may be in my 80s before I master when to shift down to 1st or 2nd gear they are so far apart whichever one you do feels like the wrong choice at a roundabout when you are rolling on. Even retuned the stereo and updated the firmware...and this has largely sorted the very odd/crap radio reception.

Small victories I suppose, I could be tempted to sort the remaining cosmetic issues but I feel like if it's perfect it'll get hammered. When it was new new people couldn't stop themselves from damaging it in small but annoying ways but most of the issues are confined to black plastic areas.

At least there's no longer a fist sized hole in the drivers mirror casing, the brakes work, there's no odd noises, you can see out, it doesn't aquaplane even when subjected to the great flood and the mpg is good. I feel like this is probably quite low expectations for a car that hasn't ticked over 19k miles yet.

Keep thinking I should probably look for a car for me before I end up going through the thing entirely as the headlamp upgrade still hasn't left my mind, and neither have a set of retro fit heated seats...it could also do with a polish/decontamination having had 4 years of very little care.
 
Regarding your windows Jock. We had ours replaced this time last year with Kommerling and they have been excellent.
When the fitters started on the first window - a downstairs bay window, they got off to a flying start and then they stopped and called for a senior guy to come over from the company. They discovered that they couldn't get the old glass units out because there was too much weight bearing down from above and that was squashing the units in. So they had to put additional props in and make a new lintel.
But the main point was that the new frames have built in mini props with screw down feet in each upright. So much stronger than the windows that were coming out. We have been delighted with them so far.
 
Regarding your windows Jock. We had ours replaced this time last year with Kommerling and they have been excellent.
When the fitters started on the first window - a downstairs bay window, they got off to a flying start and then they stopped and called for a senior guy to come over from the company. They discovered that they couldn't get the old glass units out because there was too much weight bearing down from above and that was squashing the units in. So they had to put additional props in and make a new lintel.
But the main point was that the new frames have built in mini props with screw down feet in each upright. So much stronger than the windows that were coming out. We have been delighted with them so far.
A few years ago now, when I had the gardening squad, I heard of a very similar story about a problem regarding replacement windows. Sadly the lady concerned had just lost her husband due to prostate cancer (one of my little "evangelical" hobby horses - but I'll resist diverting this thread) and had sold their big old rambling house and moved to a very nice looking bungalow. The garden was in poor order so we were out there a lot knocking it into shape for her. The bungalow was needing a lot of updating and replacing the windows was part of that. A loft conversion had been carried out at some time in the past giving a couple of bedrooms in the roof and we arrived one day to furious activity with builders running, literally, all over the place installing acrow props and support beams to the upstairs window spaces as they'd just discovered, after removing them, that the old wooden framed windows were a structural part of the roof supports! Luckily nothing actually collapsed but they had to then construct load bearing frames around where the new windows were to fit and that meant that the apertures were now smaller so none of the windows - already delivered to the site - fitted! She never volunteered to tell me who bore the cost but I would hope it didn't fall to her to cover it all.
 
At last, managed to fit the rear discs and pads to the Fabia. A sorry saga of more dificult than it needed to be.
The calipers come off easily, and the discs can be wriggled out without removing the caliper mounting bracket. The problem comes when trying to wind back the caliper pistons.
It seems that every caliper manufacturer uses a different wind back method. Most are two indentations, using two pins on the wind back tool, but why so many variations? First attempt, a 'cube', as its name suggests, a cube shape with 5 different pin layouts. Nope, all too close together. Next, a proper wind back tool, claiming to fit most vehicles. Nope, still pins too close together. Then, an adaptor, with adjustable pins. Very clever, and fitting the pistons nicely. But won't fit onto the wind back tool, as that has a 25/64" square drive, not 3/8". Fathom that one. Why deliberately make the square incompatible with anything else. So had to source anotehr wind back tool, with a stated 3/8" drive. Success. Once the juggling is mastered, supporting the caliper, locating the pins of the tool into the vague cutouts of the piston, then trying to hold the reaction plate in place as the whole plot is tightened. Once in place, it works well, and a few minutes later all back together and working.
A test drive is all good, stopping smoothly, handbrake working.

41,000 miles, all four discs were crusty. The rears had large bits flaking off. Pads, all four corners look good for at least another 40k, but replaced of course.
 
Much less productive day than some...but still messing with Xbox.

Took off from Newcastle Airport, and flew VFR to my house...which to be fair is unrecognisable due to procedural buildings. But the roads are definitely right and and the weather is real time...an impressive toy indeed.
290d8d20-2089-4c05-beb4-c28fa2f2c8e2.png

I may have stalled and crashed into the field behind my house shortly after this.
 
Much less productive day than some...but still messing with Xbox.

Took off from Newcastle Airport, and flew VFR to my house...which to be fair is unrecognisable due to procedural buildings. But the roads are definitely right and and the weather is real time...an impressive toy indeed.View attachment 392098
I may have stalled and crashed into the field behind my house shortly after this.
Lmao 🤣

The 152 is a good little aircraft (I flew G-PTTE a few times) but that isn’t a very safe bank angle, I’m not surprised you had an unscheduled “landing” shortly after
 
Just because I'm at 750ft...with vertical speed of -480ft a minute and about 70 degrees of bank on...you assume it's pilot error.

But it raises some interesting opportunities for exploration from your sofa. Because the roads are right and there are landmarks anywhere you can drive to you can fly to, which for me raises some interest little missions to try out.

Eg. Flying over to the Vulcan in Sunderland see if its there, fly out to the coast, see if Spanish City is there and follow the Coast north up to the firth of forth...possibly via another vulcan and a comet at East fortune up to Edinburgh to see of the castle is there...and maybe fly under the forth rail bridge.. cos why not?

Only issue with real time weather is while it's impressively technically...I only ever get to play after bed time...so it's dark.
 
Just because I'm at 750ft...with vertical speed of -480ft a minute and about 70 degrees of bank on...you assume it's pilot error.

But it raises some interesting opportunities for exploration from your sofa. Because the roads are right and there are landmarks anywhere you can drive to you can fly to, which for me raises some interest little missions to try out.

Eg. Flying over to the Vulcan in Sunderland see if its there, fly out to the coast, see if Spanish City is there and follow the Coast north up to the firth of forth...possibly via another vulcan and a comet at East fortune up to Edinburgh to see of the castle is there...and maybe fly under the forth rail bridge.. cos why not?

Only issue with real time weather is while it's impressively technically...I only ever get to play after bed time...so it's dark.
I presume this is FS 2020, if so it looks amazing the way it automatically generates scenery is a little odd, for example at my flying club (EGSJ) they have absolutely enormous hangars that look like you can park a 737 in them, when I’m truth you could manage a Cessna 177 sized aircraft max, the petrol pump is about twice as tall as the plane.

I managed to crash into my own house trying to identify it from the weird mash of photo smeared onto a house sized cube.

It’s a bit like flying in apple 3D maps
 
It's mix of impressive and not...

If you were using it correctly it's more than good enough. It doesn't stand up to flying past at 50ft, although the Mazda is immortalised in 2d.

Bit of an oddity in that terraced streets show as industrial units. But discovered a UK poi and buildings update, doesn't affect my little village in the middle of nowhere but town looks good, managed to fly to the office, also all the bridges are correct. You can see the law courts off the left wing tip, the millennium bridge under the nose and baltic flour framed by the nose and right wing.
11a45821-ae87-45f5-980c-898b3d4f944d.png

Picked a slightly faster aircraft for my castle tour...with mixed results.

Tynemouth priory is a bit odd
8bb38782-12ce-429c-af21-a87e63e8dfb0.png


Warkworth Castle is only recognisable by shape and the bend in the road that keeps capturing the lorries.
0b241f76-3d83-4b46-bda8-44da75a5b604.png


Got as far as Dunstanburgh which is there but has a 2d gatehouse (the real thing is extremely not 2d and very impressive) but for some reason the walls that stand were picked up. Guessing this was done by hand as it's pretty famous and they had nothing to use that would look like an old castle so decided nothing was better than using the apartment building like they did at Warkworth.
75d63c73-5f9d-4532-b04e-7ffab065a0f9.png


The fact that I was able to easily navigate without setting any waypoints or using a map and find these places though is pretty amazing in a game.
 
Last edited:
Flying along the coast is always going to be easier, also if you have some nice big land marks, round here most of the area is large areas of open farmland with a collection of little towns and villages, you get to recognise what’s what, you also have huge things like sizewell nuclear power station and sugar factories but when you’re up at 3-5000 feet it’s not always easy to know exactly where you are but you can work out your rough location from those huge landmarks.

Obviously if navigating properly you’d time yourself your use your bearing, speed and wind direction to work out where you should be at any given moment, but even the clubs C172 from 1974 has a satnav unit and most pilots use sky demon which does everything for you
 
Back
Top