Saturday 7th March to Friday 20th March
Monday 9th March
Yesterday was a really bright day and it started out that way, but this
morning has started with a sharp frost. Hopefully the sun will come up and
dispose of the frost on the car, because we are going shopping at Sainsbury’s;
our fridge is virtually empty.
I have been going through the Instruction Videos for the Draw 4 Profit
programme and, having messed up the positioning of the Patterns and Brushes, I
now have that sorted. However, when studying Alan Taylor’s videos, he seems to
have a multitude of ‘layers’ to choose from, whereas I have none at all. This
is probably because I have yet to open a photo on which to work Gimp’s magic.
I’ve probably tried Alan’s patience enough for now, so I’ll wait until I need
to make my first cartoon.
Tuesday 10th March
What a beautiful spring day we started with. So much so that, after
delivering the car to the local garage for its MOT, we took the boat round to
the diesel point and topped up. We were then met with a very pleasant surprise,
the diesel was just £0.65p per litre. That’s down from £0.80p when we last
topped up in January. Luvly Jubbly!!
I’m slowly getting the hang of Gimp and hope to try working with one of
the templates that came with it soon.
Wednesday 11th March
Well, I thought yesterday was a fine day, until I heard back from the
garage. Malcolm, the owner of said garage, said to me, “I need you to come up
here and see something for yourself.” So, I met him at the gate and he took me
to the garage and put the car up on the lift.
He then pointed to several points on the break pipes; those places
where they are supported by a small bracket; and suggested that the pipes were
leaking fluid at those points. However, when I rubbed my finger along the
pipes, all I found was dirt and grime; as you would expect from a 12 year old
car.
Just to make sure, he sat me in the car and had me push the brake pedal
down while he checked them again, but still no oil coming through. At this
point I suggested that, perhaps it was just condensation – I didn’t like to say
he was imagining things.
Unfortunately the car had still failed the MOT, because there was a
considerable amount of rust around the sill, just forward of the offside wheel
arch, so a plate needed to be welded there. Sadly, that wasn’t the end of the
story, he also pointed to the front discs, which were badly worn, as were the
pads.
So, we now have major surgery being performed on my lovely, little
Alfa, all of which, along with the MOT, will hit me with a bill for about £250.
And a great day was had by all. It’s not really all doom and gloom
though because, when I suggested I should trade the Alfa in, Malcolm didn’t
think there was enough wrong with it yet. “It’s still a sweet little car. You
should keep it for a while yet. Besides which you wouldn’t get very much in a
trade-in.” Well, that’s nice to know!!!
Thursday 12th March
My estimate for the Alfa was a little short. I phoned Malcolm at the
garage yesterday afternoon and, with the welding, brake discs and pads, and the
MOT, I’m now looking at £320. Still considering the age of the car, a mere £26
per month for repairs, is not too bad. Apparently the brake pipes; that Malcolm
thought were leaking; weren’t!!
Today we’ll be taking the bus into Rugby and I’ll be collecting the
Alfa when we get back.
Saturday 14th March
I’ve just been checking my emails and something very strange has
occurred. I received an email from Frank, a computer whiz in Harlow, asking me
if I had emailed him with a particular message. The message had been sent to my
old RAF pal, Alan Oxley, back in February 2013, when we were at Mercia Marina.
At least, that’s who I think I sent it to.
Anyway, at the time we were having the hull of the boat re-painted and,
while that was being done we took a week away in a cottage in the Peak
District. I was apologising for not being able to meet up; or something like that;
because we would be away.
My question is, how could my computer send an old message to somebody
for whom it wasn’t intended? Spooky, eh?
Wifey took the bus into Northampton yesterday morning, so I took the
opportunity to move my tools from the old and dilapidated box they were in, to
a new one with wheels and a lid. Much better!! And much tidier too.
I also moved our WiFi unit to the front starboard window, which is
where it is usually kept when we are cruising. We, been having so much trouble
with the Internet of late, that I decided to unplug it from the antenna and let
it stand alone. So far at least, it seems to be behaving itself, which suggests
to me one of the following: Either the antenna is not up to the job, or it too
needs to be moved to that part of the boat. It probably also needs to be pointed
in a different direction but, until I get one of Wifey’s new flower boxes up on
the roof, and strap the antenna to a new and longer pole, I won’t be able to
prove that theory. If it doesn’t rain today, perhaps we’ll do just that.
The flower boxes need feet at each corner, so as to lift them off the
roof, and I need to measure the corner positions from the curved roof and cut
off some pieces of a broom handle and screw them on. Only then will I be able
to fit the antenna. Does that make sense?
We are now in the market for a new laptop; this one has become rather
slow and, despite my best efforts at cleaning it up, still remains that way.
So, with that in mind, we’ll be popping off to PC World today, just to see what
they have available. I rather fancy another Acer, but I’m open to other ideas.
Monday 16th March
Whilst Wifey was in Northampton on Friday, I took the opportunity to
give myself a strip wash. The water was good and hot and, as there was plenty
of it, I also washed and trimmed my hair; I have one of those thingies that
hold a double sided blade.
Anyway, later in the evening, when we turn the heating on for
washing-up water, the water didn’t seem to be as hot as we would expect.
Thinking perhaps we hadn’t had the heating on long enough, we thought no more
of it. Then, as is our usual habit, we switched the heating on again at 8.30
pm, so as to have enough hot water for our morning wash, and on Saturday
morning, when the water was only tepid, we realised something was wrong.
I phoned Dave Hull, a local engineer, later in the morning and, when I
described the symptoms, he immediately knew what was wrong and said he would be
along today to replace a part in the system. In one way that’s great, but it
also means even more expense after spending £320 on the car.
I’ve said it before and I repeat it here, if anybody out there thinks
living on a boat is cheap, think again!! Also, not knowing when Dave will be
here, kind of puts paid to our planned visit to PC World.
Tuesday 17th March
Dave Hull came along as promised and, sure enough he knew what the
problem was. Apparently this is a common problem with diesel heating systems
and the lack of heat is due to the pump choking up. This pump uses a very small
amount of diesel for heating; less than half a litre per hour; so the inner
delivery pipe is only about 2mm in diameter, which doesn’t need much in the way
of muck to block it. Sadly there’s no way of repairing the pump, so that’s
another £200 up our shirts.
I’m now wondering what the third nasty surprise is going to be!!
This Sunday we’ll be enjoying the company of the Kennett family at the
annual family bash, which we two and my brother Alan and his wife Val, are all
looking forward to. If it’s anything like last year we’ll have lots of fun and
photo-taking.
Under normal circumstance we would put our pooch in kennels for the day
and pick him up the following morning. This year however, a fellow boater, who
also has a Jack Russell, will be looking after Alex for the day. Fortunately
Crick is only about 1½ hours’ drive away, so we’re saved the added expense of
an overnight stay in a hotel. And, thank goodness for that!!
Wednesday 18th March
The weather has changed for the better and, although we had a frost and
foggy start to today, it bodes well for a sunny day. This is just as well,
because we’ll be taking the bus into Rugby this morning and will probably stay
a couple of hours. Wifey is looking to use her Pitney-Bowes Christmas vouchers
at M&S, so we’ll probably need that extra time.
As for me, well, I’m still looking for a new laptop and, to this end I
have contacted the online company that sold me this VAIO. Unfortunately it only
has 4GB of RAM and I feel a little more would be better. I’ve ‘cleaned’ it up
to some extent, but it still takes an age to boot up. Hopefully I’ll find
something better at a decent price. What with all the expense we’ve had this
past week, I could do with some luck.
Friday 20th March
Our friendly, neighbourhood boat engineer, Dave Hull, turned up this
morning and fitted the new heater pump; that’s another £240.00 up our shirts.
March is always full of regular expenses, such as RCR, MOT, Quarterly Moorings,
and CRT Licence. But the additional care and heater repairs have hit us a bit
harder than normal. I suppose the answer to this annual problem, would be to
put more money aside for such contingencies.
We took a drive over to Daventry yesterday in hopes that we might find
Hammond’s Chop Sauce at Waitrose. Alas, they don’t do it either so, since Wifey
is going into Northampton again on Monday, she’ll give the local Morrison’s a
try. Our own bottle is getting a bit low, but we also need some for my brother,
Alan.
I also received an email from the guy who sold me this Sony VAIO and,
in his opinion I have a laptop with a pretty good spec. So, he’s now going to
keep his eye open for a newer i5, which is the new generation model.
Now, the weekend is almost upon us, so I think this would be a good
time to post this blog.
Take care folks; we’ll see some of you on Sunday at the Kennett family
bash.
Dave, Sheila and Alex.
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