Had my son at 40, I'll be 42 this year, already feeling like I'm struggling to keep up and he's barely walking yet!!!
What's made you smile today?
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What's made you smile today?
I met my US Senator at a flea market a couple years back. She'd just had her second kid at 49. After talking policy for a minute or so, I asked her if I could speak parent to parent. She said sure, so I said, with a smile on my face "You had your daughter at 49. What the hell is wrong with you?" She laughed out loud and replied with, "I wonder what the hell I was thinking, myself, some days."
This doesn’t bode well for me, turned 40 this year and baby arrived in March…… everything hurts already
Gets easier....now mines nearly 4...we just play the odd gentle game of spiderman.
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Well looking back Im sure you will be glad you did indeed have families even lateish ones. I truly hope there is something left of the earth for them in another 30 years. I am doing my bit as far as I can with the mid Norfolk jungle. Its hard work keeping up with it at the moment. two more trees to ram in somewhere as soon as possible. The rate the Fig is growing I need to be quick or I wont have the strength to dig the vast ole required. Its producing a new leaf and about 8mm of stem each day. I want to make a brick lined tree pit to contain the roots.... maybe next year.
Families bring the greatest of highs and lows but, for us anyway, the highs have so far way outweighed the lows. I'm so very glad I have mine!
As far as "doing my bit" for the environment? If we go back say 30, maybe 40, years or more it really had little impact on me. Yes I heard and read all the stuff about it and, because I'm an avid reader of SF - J G Ballard's Drowned World etc - I was inclined to believe it was going to be a problem but I was far to busy trying to provide for my growing family and just living my life to do anything of consequence. Our house was not very well insulated. Our large family car (needed because we had 3 children) guzzled fuel and had no after treatment system (Cat etc). We flew on holiday all over Europe and the American East Coast. I never managed to get the kids to close doors and turn off lights, etc, etc. You get the idea I'm sure. I don't think there was anything unusual about us, Many families live like this.
Today I live in a house built not 40 years ago with insulation build into the walls. The roof space had blown in insulating wool between the rafters when we bought it which I've doubled by rolling out thick insulation on top of the rafters. We also recently upgraded to some "super efficient" new double glazing and I made considerable efforts to address draughts. It costs a fair bit less to heat than the old smaller house we moved from. Our cars are much more fuel efficient and don't pollute anything like as much. Being now retired we don't clock up anything like so many miles these days either. We only run the central heating when we really feel we need it, even in the winter, and then only in the rooms we live in, which have thermostats on the radiators and the boiler is a fairly new condensing type. We are very aware of how much energy we use, for instance only putting enough water in the kettle for what we need - ie. a cup's worth for a cup of tea or maybe a teapot's worth to make a pot of tea - and we trigger off the kettle when the water starts to bubble instead of letting it boil on until it trips. I've been watching our, recently acquired, Smart Meter and I suspect boiling the same amount of water in a kettle on the gas hob uses less energy than using the electric kettle - I'm going to do more observations of this type. When watching the TV in the evening we only put a light on if it's needed, otherwise we watch in the dark - you should try it, the picture becomes much more vibrant and the experience more immersive, especially when watching a film.
I'm sure there's other "stuff" we're doing which just isn't coming to mind at this moment. I'm now very seriously thinking we shouldn't fly for holidays any more and instead do more local exploring - Mrs J doesn't like this idea as she likes her sunny holidays. Mind you if the financial situation gets much worse, jetting off to sunny destinations just won't be an affordable option - but it's the pollution that motivates me more.
So I feel I'm doing something at least but could do more and I'm beginning to feel increasingly guilty about it.
As far as "doing my bit" for the environment? If we go back say 30, maybe 40, years or more it really had little impact on me. Yes I heard and read all the stuff about it and, because I'm an avid reader of SF - J G Ballard's Drowned World etc - I was inclined to believe it was going to be a problem but I was far to busy trying to provide for my growing family and just living my life to do anything of consequence. Our house was not very well insulated. Our large family car (needed because we had 3 children) guzzled fuel and had no after treatment system (Cat etc). We flew on holiday all over Europe and the American East Coast. I never managed to get the kids to close doors and turn off lights, etc, etc. You get the idea I'm sure. I don't think there was anything unusual about us, Many families live like this.
Today I live in a house built not 40 years ago with insulation build into the walls. The roof space had blown in insulating wool between the rafters when we bought it which I've doubled by rolling out thick insulation on top of the rafters. We also recently upgraded to some "super efficient" new double glazing and I made considerable efforts to address draughts. It costs a fair bit less to heat than the old smaller house we moved from. Our cars are much more fuel efficient and don't pollute anything like as much. Being now retired we don't clock up anything like so many miles these days either. We only run the central heating when we really feel we need it, even in the winter, and then only in the rooms we live in, which have thermostats on the radiators and the boiler is a fairly new condensing type. We are very aware of how much energy we use, for instance only putting enough water in the kettle for what we need - ie. a cup's worth for a cup of tea or maybe a teapot's worth to make a pot of tea - and we trigger off the kettle when the water starts to bubble instead of letting it boil on until it trips. I've been watching our, recently acquired, Smart Meter and I suspect boiling the same amount of water in a kettle on the gas hob uses less energy than using the electric kettle - I'm going to do more observations of this type. When watching the TV in the evening we only put a light on if it's needed, otherwise we watch in the dark - you should try it, the picture becomes much more vibrant and the experience more immersive, especially when watching a film.
I'm sure there's other "stuff" we're doing which just isn't coming to mind at this moment. I'm now very seriously thinking we shouldn't fly for holidays any more and instead do more local exploring - Mrs J doesn't like this idea as she likes her sunny holidays. Mind you if the financial situation gets much worse, jetting off to sunny destinations just won't be an affordable option - but it's the pollution that motivates me more.
So I feel I'm doing something at least but could do more and I'm beginning to feel increasingly guilty about it.
Now for something which made me smile. I got most of the Ibiza's service done today. It's technically now about 6 weeks overdue but as I use a top grade extended interval oil but change it annually, I'm not feeling all that guilty. The biggest smile is because the N/S/F brake clean up went very well. You'll perhaps remember that's the one which had a stripped slider pin thread I wrote about some time ago. I've been dreading disturbing it again - part of the reason I've been putting off. I've taken some pictures of the repair and tomorrow, although I did much of the "big" jobs today, there's still stuff to do like the pollen filter etc and the rear brakes to clean up. With a bit of luck I'll be able to do a post about the slider pin "catastrophe", and how the situation was resolved, tomorrow.
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Yes we are / were much the same. I too sitting here in the dark too scared of the bill to turn on a light.. Microwave swithed off at the plug to kill the unnecessary clock and lights outside PIR lights all off too. Its a double whammy of save ourselves from stavation and helping the environment. I collect all the fire wood I can from picking up dead wood from the hedge rows so I hope thats renewable as well as free. The woodburner means the heating is rarely on and its a new super efficient smoke zone exempt stove so should be cleanish as possible. I am dreading the next electricity bill though. Nearly all the bulbs except one or two outside ones are now LED. Oddly I bought an extra gas cycliners - we cook on LPG - and it has only gone up about £5 from the previous one 2 years ago. Mrs has started baking our own bread but I wonder if the cost of fuel makes this more expensive than buying it. As I reckon it now costs £2.25 to visit the supermarket we may soon start getting deliveries I suppose there is little impact on the environment from this but it may be cheaper for us in the end.
We could all probably do more...as is the way of these things but the impact of everybody at least doing something should not be underestimated either.
I'm very surprised by a government with a net zero agenda attempting to get everyone back in the office and pushing ahead with the white elephant that is HS2.
What we could actually do with is more freight on the rails especially given driver shortages...and fewer people travelling unnecessarily to do things that can be done virtually. There are of course many theories as to why they aren't, most of which circulate around looking after holders of large commercial property portfolios but let's not go there.
A car that doesn't move is 0 emission as well so saving journeys can be as clean as going electric but not cutting back your mileage.
Parental wise my wife has had some bizarre conversations with other parents. There's one family live in our street and for some reason they didn't have the car today. Normally they strap all 3 kids in, travel 0.5 miles to school, spend 5 minutes driving round looking a for space near the school then unload. Usually we leave and arrive home around the same time as them on the school run despite using shanks pony.
Anyway this day they didn't have the car and they are chatting coming back up the road with my wife. She's mentions about always about always seeing us walking locally and asks if we don't have a car? To which my wife was mildly taken aback..we live in the same flipping street although the car is usually tucked away out of sight. The conversation is then cut short as they get to the bus stop...the next closest one to the house is literally less than 0.25 miles between them...but hey she's getting the bus. It must have taken at least twice as long to wait for it than walking but nowt as queer as folk as the saying goes.
I'm very surprised by a government with a net zero agenda attempting to get everyone back in the office and pushing ahead with the white elephant that is HS2.
What we could actually do with is more freight on the rails especially given driver shortages...and fewer people travelling unnecessarily to do things that can be done virtually. There are of course many theories as to why they aren't, most of which circulate around looking after holders of large commercial property portfolios but let's not go there.
A car that doesn't move is 0 emission as well so saving journeys can be as clean as going electric but not cutting back your mileage.
Parental wise my wife has had some bizarre conversations with other parents. There's one family live in our street and for some reason they didn't have the car today. Normally they strap all 3 kids in, travel 0.5 miles to school, spend 5 minutes driving round looking a for space near the school then unload. Usually we leave and arrive home around the same time as them on the school run despite using shanks pony.
Anyway this day they didn't have the car and they are chatting coming back up the road with my wife. She's mentions about always about always seeing us walking locally and asks if we don't have a car? To which my wife was mildly taken aback..we live in the same flipping street although the car is usually tucked away out of sight. The conversation is then cut short as they get to the bus stop...the next closest one to the house is literally less than 0.25 miles between them...but hey she's getting the bus. It must have taken at least twice as long to wait for it than walking but nowt as queer as folk as the saying goes.
Spoke to a young man about to get married and with it being a serious occasion, told him to remember three words, "as you walk down the aisle, kneeling at the altar, singing the hymn, you may wonder what your new wife is thinking, so just repeat those same three words..., I'll, alter, him!!!
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Seeing Duran Duran at Hyde Park yesterday was an absolutely incredible experience!! 
It would've been better if the weather had been about 10°c cooler, but I guess you can't have everything!
It would've been better if the weather had been about 10°c cooler, but I guess you can't have everything!
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Are they still alive?Seeing Duran Duran at Hyde Park yesterday was an absolutely incredible experience!!
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Absolutely!
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Be glad you went this week and not next. Forecast 35C that will be another record here. We have so far a record of the forecasts being less than actual temeratures so I am dreading this! PS Very glad you enjoyed it!Absolutely!
Dropped the car off again...
Marked change in the demeanour of the gentleman on the desk. Seems to be a bit more chatty and helpful also at pains to point out he did submit a warranty claim for the valve work..having said he would 3 times and not done it, then assured me he would and that he would phone me after..Still waiting on that call.
I'm sure a call to the warranty company would expose that as a lie to be honest but let us not pull that thread.
But the reason for his sudden bout of helpfulness would appear to be Citroën UK head office have been in touch to take details of the case. He expects them to cover the whole bill..even if they came back with 60% I'd have been over the moon but we'll see.
At least I got the same courtesy car back I had last week..and it appears to still have the fuel I put in it, in it and my phone paired up etc.
Marked change in the demeanour of the gentleman on the desk. Seems to be a bit more chatty and helpful also at pains to point out he did submit a warranty claim for the valve work..having said he would 3 times and not done it, then assured me he would and that he would phone me after..Still waiting on that call.
I'm sure a call to the warranty company would expose that as a lie to be honest but let us not pull that thread.
But the reason for his sudden bout of helpfulness would appear to be Citroën UK head office have been in touch to take details of the case. He expects them to cover the whole bill..even if they came back with 60% I'd have been over the moon but we'll see.
At least I got the same courtesy car back I had last week..and it appears to still have the fuel I put in it, in it and my phone paired up etc.
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If you like Rainman Ray, you'll love Greg's Airplanes and Automobiles https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCynGrIaI5vsJQgHJAIp9oSg. His seven part series on the P47 Thunderbolt is excellent. But I suspect he hasn't read the Rolls Royce Heritage books. The book about Mustang and Merlin is amazing for personality details not just the techie stuff.
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My friend's house is an old bakery with acres of driveway space. He paved the lot with granite cobbles. OMG what a nutter - you would think, but he say's it was surprisingly easy. The sub-base is whackered down stone to dust. He laid the setts on wet cement then grouted between with a dry mix and watered it in. Any smudging on the top face was quickly taken off by winter frosts but could be cleaned. Almost none of them have broken loose. His mixer did enough to lay about 1 sq/m each time so no need to do it all at once.
My daughter and SIL are using our pop up camper next week. They borrowed it earlier in the year and said none of the propane appliances worked. That surprised me because I put in a new tank the week before they picked it up. We parked it and I kind of forgot about it.
Fast forward to yesterday. I was reminded that they are picking it up on Saturday. Okay, better get to checking it out. Problem one to deal with, why does nothing light? We have an in-line gauge for tank pressure between the tank and the regulator. I took that out for grins. Low and behold, the cook top works. The orifice in the gauge body was blocked. As these things are as truthful as a politician anyway, I tossed it.
Problem two, wasps. There was a nest of them in the furnace exhaust. First time in 12 years that I fired that furnace up. Wasps came out of there like their asses were on fire, which they literally were. Ended up pulling the exhaust apart to exhume the scorched nest.
Problem three. The 3-way fridge only runs on 12 and 110 volt electric, not on propane. Where the kids are going, there are no electric hook ups, so the propane needs to work. I admit that I had to look this one up. Main causes are a blocked orifice or a wonky gas valve. Pulled the orifice and turned on the gas valve. The tell tale hiss and propane stink told me that the valve was good and the orifice was the problem. Suggestion for cleaning the orifice was to soak it in alcohol for several hours and blow out with low pressure compressed air. WTF? This suggestion wasn't made by a mechanic because a mechanic(raises hand)would use either Brake Kleen or Carb Cleaner to clear the orifice and be done with it in five minutes. So five minutes later, the orifice is back in place. I open the gas valve, press the lighter button, and Whoosh! Fridge works. Then I spent the next twenty minutes trying to fit the heat shield back in place.
All there is left to do is check the tire pressure and pump some grease in the wheel bearings.
Fast forward to yesterday. I was reminded that they are picking it up on Saturday. Okay, better get to checking it out. Problem one to deal with, why does nothing light? We have an in-line gauge for tank pressure between the tank and the regulator. I took that out for grins. Low and behold, the cook top works. The orifice in the gauge body was blocked. As these things are as truthful as a politician anyway, I tossed it.
Problem two, wasps. There was a nest of them in the furnace exhaust. First time in 12 years that I fired that furnace up. Wasps came out of there like their asses were on fire, which they literally were. Ended up pulling the exhaust apart to exhume the scorched nest.
Problem three. The 3-way fridge only runs on 12 and 110 volt electric, not on propane. Where the kids are going, there are no electric hook ups, so the propane needs to work. I admit that I had to look this one up. Main causes are a blocked orifice or a wonky gas valve. Pulled the orifice and turned on the gas valve. The tell tale hiss and propane stink told me that the valve was good and the orifice was the problem. Suggestion for cleaning the orifice was to soak it in alcohol for several hours and blow out with low pressure compressed air. WTF? This suggestion wasn't made by a mechanic because a mechanic(raises hand)would use either Brake Kleen or Carb Cleaner to clear the orifice and be done with it in five minutes. So five minutes later
, the orifice is back in place. I open the gas valve, press the lighter button, and Whoosh! Fridge works. Then I spent the next twenty minutes trying to fit the heat shield back in place.All there is left to do is check the tire pressure and pump some grease in the wheel bearings.
Thanks for the link Dave. My passion is road vehicles, cars and motorcycles especially, but I'm also very interested in elderly horticultural machinery - there's an elderly 2 stroke Ransomes cylinder mower:
been sitting in my shed for several years, awaiting my attentions at this time. It's got an open circuit coil which is proving challenging to source. I need to source the proper plug for it too as at this time it's got an incorrect, taper seat jobbie in it (as was used in the Ford Pinto engine (Sierra, Cortina etc) - Don't you just love that mesh air filter?
As a youngster it was always cars and motor cycles which "lit my fire" but the college I went to also trained aeronautical engineers and I did think about going for that because the quality of components, precision and concentration on excellence attracted me. Ended up "doing" cars though and I don't regret it, it's given me a good and very interesting living. So I'll enjoy exploring that link of your's, thanks again for the suggestion.
I love old stuff like this.
