Pillings Lock Marina 2010 #10

Pillings Lock Marina 2010#10

Friday 30th April and the last day of the month has started out fine and sunny. Whether it will stay that way is another story.

Yesterday I picked the car up from the garage and was most surprised to discover I wasn’t being charged for the work. It seems that the nice diagnostics man was not going to charge them for his work, so they didn’t charge me. However, I still need a Lambda Sensor, which will set us back about £80, and we also need a new Cam Belt Kit, which will probably be about another £100 or so.

The good news is, that the car gave the garage no trouble regarding the idling speed, and it gave me no trouble on the drive back to the marina. Hopefully, once the other bits are fitted, I’ll enjoy some worry free motoring again. In any event we’ll be keeping the Alfa for some time to come, unless Wifey wins a sizeable amount on the Lottery, in which case we might upgrade to a slightly newer model. Perhaps a Lambourghini?

Yesterday, just before Wifey arrived back from her day out to Leicester, the couple who own the boat opposite us turned up with a full sized refrigerator. I have no idea what they were expecting to do with it, but there was no way it was going to go through the doors into their boat. They may have managed it with a wide-beam, but certainly not with their tatty little dinky toy. Result? They took it back from whence it came. Duh!!

Today we are going to chance our arm and drive into Quorn and, if the car behaves itself we’ll also pop into Loughborough. The mechanic at the garage told me yesterday that, since we are going to replace the cam belt, which also entails removing the fan belt, we may as well fit a new one of those as well. So we will call in to Halfords for one of those. At this rate we’ll never be able to afford the radiators and such that we need for the boat.

Sunday 2nd May and it’s been a rather horrid, windy day. We had intended to take the Day Boat down to Loughborough for the Boat Festival but, since Sheila and Marion found it to be a load of rubbish when they walked into town yesterday, it didn’t seem worth the trouble. Instead, Wifey and I did our usual Sunday lunchtime thingy, and went for a drink instead.

The bad news is that, after a couple of days with no problems with the car, it decided to play up again today. Actually, it didn’t misbehave when I took it to the garage last week, and it didn’t misbehave for the mechanic either. All they found wrong was the Lambda Sensor, which I’m not convinced is causing my current idling speed problem.

The car will be going in again on Friday and, at the cost of £200 for parts, they will fit the Sensor and, along with it, a new Cam Belt kit and Fan Belt. Actually, I may fit the Sensor myself, if I can locate the darn thing that is. Then, if the car still plays up, I’ll know that the Sensor is not the problem and the Diagnostics Man will have to check it out again.

The good news about the garage is that, since the Diagnostics Man didn’t charge them for his time last week, they didn’t charge me for the work carried out.

The other bad news is that the laptop is still a load of rubbish, as it has been almost from the day we bought it. I’ve had a chat with Ivan again – he must be getting a little weary of me by now – and he’s said he will take the laptop away sometime this week, just to check which drivers he needs to download and, once that’s done, he will format this useless laptop and load the good old, reliable Windows XP.

I am seriously beginning to regret getting rid of the Acer. However, since I wasn’t aware that Ivan had anything to do with computers, I really had nowhere else to turn. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

Time for Lewis now.

Thursday 6th May and we’ve had a wee drop of rain this morning.

For several weeks now, our pooch has had no problems in the early mornings; there was a period she went through where she needed a call of nature as soon as I got out of bed, her tummy growling and giving me cause to believe I had better get her out pdq. This morning she seems to have reverted to those inconsiderate days, after all, I do prefer a cuppa before considering such mundane tasks. Even after relieving herself, she refused her usual pre-breakfast snack, so Tug Boat Annie will just have to take her out again, and probably before she has her breakfast too.

The promised parts for the car did not turn up on Tuesday, but then I really didn’t expect them to, not with a Bank Holiday weekend before it. However, peeking out of our window yesterday, we did see a delivery man take a couple of parcels into the restaurant; the office doesn’t open on Wednesdays; so I’m hoping my bits have arrived. If they have and the rain keeps off, I’ll see if I can fit the Lambda Sensor which, I hope, will cure our problems. If I don’t do the job, the garage will do so on Friday, along with the Cam Belt and Tensioners.

Today, as is her wont, Wifey will go out for the afternoon with Marion. If it wasn’t for the fact that Marion works, I dare say they would be out all day, which would be fine by me, because I have loads to do with the painting of the flower boxes and starting another recipe book. I am unable to post the new one yet, because I am waiting for Ivan to finish painting his boat, at which time he will have another go at sorting out this laptop. He is almost convinced that the trouble lies with hardware rather than software, which could be just about anything. He’s going to run some more diagnostics and, if it is hardware, it will have to be returned to Comet for repair.

I daren’t post the book on eBay because, if the laptop has to go for repair, I will have no access to the Internet, and will have no way of knowing if I have any buyers. But, at least I can start work on the next book.

Meanwhile I have started painting the side panels for the flower boxes, and I fully intend making a good job of them. I had intended to paint castles on the end panels but, having made a complete hash of it, I might paint roses on those also.

Friday 7th May and today is the day the car goes in for repair, again. £200 worth of parts turned up yesterday, including a Lambda sensor which, I have been assured, can certainly contribute to the problems I have been having with the idling speed. Also in the package was a fan belt and a cam belt kit, the fan belt because, when they replace the cam belt and tensioners, they also have to remove the fan belt, so it is just as well to replace that too.

If anybody reading this blog is concerned about their important and personal files being hacked into by outside interests, I’ve found, via Computer Active Magazine, a programme that deals with such things. And, since I will probably be sending this laptop away for repair soon, it seemed a good idea to ensure our bank details are secure from prying eyes.

The programme is called East-Tec Eraser 2009 and is completely free from www.computeractive.co.uk/eraser/index. When you get to this page and download the programme, you will need a serial number with which to activate the programme. This can be found at www.snipca.com/x1301. The free version is only available until 14th May 2010, so you don’t have much time. You will be given the opportunity to upgrade to the full version on the same page.

Returning to the problems with this laptop, Ivan; who is currently spending a couple of weeks painting his boat, and who has been trying his best to cure my problems; is now of the opinion that the problem is hardware related. Possibly memory, possibly something wrong with the mother board but, whatever it is, it isn’t software. So, my next step is to contact Comet and arrange to have it repaired under warranty. I think their nearest repair shop is in Nottingham so, until the car is sorted, I’ll have to wait a while before I telephone them.

Now, since I am online and, because the Eraser prog is pretty important, I’m now going to post this blog.

All abreast for now from

Dave and Sheila and the Pooch.