Really bad parking

In the long running thread on this topic on the Pistonheads forum, I think we have an outright winner:

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Big ‘thank you’ to Plusnet

I’ve been a Plusnet (UK ISP) customer for many years. Their service is generally very reliable and good value.

For the last couple of days I’ve had problems connecting to the internet. Disconnections became more and more frequent. Rebooting the router would fix it for a few minutes, then one minute, then barely long enough to download waiting emails. After trying the laptop as well as my desktop PC it dawned on us that the problem was with the wireless signal in the house, not external.

To prove it I slung an old length of cable between the PC in the upstairs office and the router by the front door. Voila. Perfect. But now I obviously need a replacement router.

So I contacted Plusnet who quickly replied that my router was out of warrantee but, as a gesture of goodwill, they had already put a new replacement in the post to me.

Thank you, Plusnet.

Moving house – contracts

Very nearly exchange of contracts stage. Well, we’ve signed our copy to sell.

We’ve had our survey done, too. Just a little worrying that our purchaser hasn’t done the same yet but, apparently, she has been out of the country so maybe we shouldn’t worry.

I’m practically on first name terms with the guys at the local council tip, I’m going there so frequently.

Stuff is also selling on Gumtree but the boxes are piling up even though the loft is still half full! So there’s still a lot to do. No rest for the wicked.

This lot is 99% stuff to send out to James in NZ. Where he finds space to store it will be his problem. He wants it so he gets it.

 

Moving house – some progress

So far, so good. Offers made and accepted. Only 3 in the chain and no mortgages involved, so it should be a relatively quick process (in theory).

Pages and pages of forms filled in for the solicitors and a surveyor booked.

Meanwhile, de-cluttering is going well. Trips to the tip or filling up the bins with unwanted rubbish and selling a surprising number of things on Gumtree. Of course the prices bear no relation to what we paid for the items but that’s life. We’re half-way around the loft. Why on earth did we keep putting stuff up there continuously for 20 years?

This is one good reason for wanting this as our new home:-

Moving house – what a pain in the a**e

So, after nearly 21 years in this lovingly maintained house, which is really too big for just the two of us, and its lovingly and painstakingly (and expensively) developed and maintained garden, we have decided to move.

I was raised in Plymouth and all my relatives still live there or in Cornwall. Our jobs were here but, now we’re retired, there’s nothing much to keep us here. It’s a lovely spot, in a lovely part of the country but, after a tour around some villages near Plymouth, we decided Dartmoor and the West Country in general was where we’d like to live. I only see my family about once a year. We’re all getting (a lot) older and we’d like to be nearer to them.

So we’ve found this lovely bungalow just outside Plymouth, just in Cornwall, with lovely views and we’ve put our house on the market.

The process should be painless, perhaps, but oversights and lack of communication by the chosen estate agent have meant some frustration and stress already. It didn’t help when he over-valued the house. At least we seem to have a reasonable offer now.

De-cluttering: Oh, my God, the stuff I’ve bought and never used, the excess tableware, glasses, tools, books …….; stuff that has gathered dust for years – in some cases ever since we moved here.  And we haven’t started on the loft ! So, charity shop, rubbish bins or by advertising on Gumtree, it’s slowly going. The house is only a little smaller but we’re determined not to take stuff we don’t need. It still has a garden to maintain so most of the gardening tools will be coming but a double 4 m ladder? For a bungalow? I think not.

I’ll keep you updated.

WordPress stats – sometimes wrong

I’ve seen this sort of error before but it still makes me smile.

Flatulent cows spark farm blast

Cows make the headlines for me again!

“Methane gas from 90 flatulent cows has exploded in a German farm shed, damaging the roof and injuring one of the animals, police said. One cow was treated for burns, a police spokesman added.”

Read the full story: here

Christmas in Paradise

Well, almost; a week at the Ngala Lodge in Gambia.

With weather typical of a fine summer’s day in the UK, terrific food and hospitality, what’s not to like? And only just over 5 hours from Gatwick to Banjul.

The pool was unheated but still just warm enough to swim in, as was the sea. Falling asleep to the sound of chirping insects and rolling surf is hard to beat.

Christmas Eve was our Ruby wedding anniversary and also the main celebration at the hotel, with a 7 course evening meal. Add a fair amount of alcohol and a good time was had by all into the small hours. There was good entertainment every night, too.

Christmas day itself was much more low key; back to sunbathing, reading and sudokus.

I could have taken many more pictures but there are now quite a few on Flickr, as always.

Kerry seemed to have been well cared for in kennels so now we’re ready to face the UK’s awful winter refreshed.

More falling cows !!

Following my post earlier this year (brazilian-man-killed-in-his-bed-by-falling-cow/), news has come to light of another incident which happened around the same time. This time it was in England and the good news was that no-one was hurt. The bad news was that it involved two cows falling through the same skylight after walking through some damaged fencing.

The house owner was in the next room and both cows narrowly missed serious injury and expensive damage to property by landing on her bench, instead of her weaving loom. The whole scenario was bad enough but “She looked up at the fence and saw the rest of the herd looking on.” would have had me running for cover.

Read the full story: here

Mercedes-Benz World (again)

Another Piston Heads Sunday Service. The weather was cold but dry and sunny – what a change from yesterday’s downpours!

PH had an allocation of 600 special parking spaces and I was number 835 when I signed up a couple of weeks ago. It wasn’t until 08:40 this morning that I made it into the 600, as various members opted out for whatever reasons. At least that gave me time to have breakfast before leaving.

I managed a few snaps of some of the collection of really nice cars in our parking area and, of course, in the building before the camera’s batteries went flat. Had I remembered to bring spares? No.

I booked a passenger ride in one of the many fast cars they were using on the track – a new A45, as it turned out. £10 for 5 laps in 5 minutes but money well spent. Those guys have the best job in the world, I reckon. I’d do it for free, as I told my driver.

More on Flicker, as always.

It’s free to visit M-B World and well worth a visit.