Flogging the excess panel

I mentioned that when the work on the infrared panels was done, I was left with one of them that seemed utterly superfluous. It’s at the top of the stairs. It’s where all heat of the house naturally pools. And nobody will ever linger there. If you are on top of the stairs, you are either entering or leaving the office or the upstairs bedroom. So that panel was not going to be useful!

Jaco and Marjan have a project at home, and it could do with some sort of heating. I offered them the panel at a mate’s rate. And one day Marjan phoned me to discuss that. 

I was going to work in my car anyway, for reasons of bike repair, so I thought this was an excellent opportunity to lug that thing in. Jaco didn't agree; he thought it was too early in the development of their project. But I thought that was a strange argument. Surely you want to know what the panel is like before the project is finished? So I completely ignored him and lugged at that thing with fixings and all to the office.

I think I made the right call. They could try out the panel anywhere in the house to see how they liked it, and discuss with anyone involved in their project on how to incorporate it. And they decided that it was what they wanted, and they decided to keep it.

Now I'm left with a wall with an unnecessarily high number of holes in it. The panel was clearly put up by someone very clumsy. But given that I am in the process of making my ceilings presentable again, after damage having been done to them, I can just add this wall to the list. And when the wall looks good again, and the panel has found a much better home, everybody will be happy!

No panel; just a damaged wall now (I don't seem to have taken a picture of the panel there)

Scales for the cat

The cat has been on a diet for many weeks now. She looks a lot slimmer! And I can tell that she doesn't enjoy her diet at all. She isn't aggressive about it, but I can tell that would really like more food. And I was wondering if I could already give her a bit more. Would she have lost enough?

The way to find out is weigh her. But my own scales don't really care much about 1 kg more or less, so I can't use these. I decided to buy scales especially for her. They go up to 20 kg.

They have arrived! So it was time to try to get on it. She doesn't like being picked up, so I tried to bribe her onto it with dreamies. The problem is a bit that she can generally get to the dreamies without putting all her four paws on the scales.

After a while I managed to get her on it anyway. And she's only lost 200g! She has to lose four times that! So she is not coming off that diet. Sorry little cat! It will be a hungry spring…

Cat not on it

Finally: bike maintenance

I tend to bring my bike in for maintenance quite often. I do many miles on it! This time I was a bit hesitant, as Neil had said he can actually do everything my bike repair man can. But would he actually want to do it when push came to shove? Or would he prefer to go on a hike? So I discussed it, and we agreed that probably I should just have it done professionally. So I phoned the repair shop.

The first time I did that they didn't answer. The second time, same thing. Oh dear! Was something be amiss? The third time he answered. And he explained that he was temporarily closed, for building reasons. Oh dear. I had already left it a bit late! But he booked it in for when the work was supposed to be finished.

Then I got a text. The work took longer than expected. He would have to postpone the booking. That happened twice. Two more weeks! But then I could finally bring it in.

James, the repair man, explained that the work actually hadn’t even been done. I wasn't sure why he had been closed then, but there must've been a reason for it. He said he was going to close again in August, hoping to get it done then. But at least I could give him my bike, and I was going to get it back with new brake pads, and possibly new cables, and probably a new chain, and all the things that tend to get done when I bring my bike in.

I got it back quicker than I thought. It looked impeccable again! And he hadn't even needed to do too much. I was wondering soon if he might have underestimated how much wrong with it; the gearing was a bit awful when I got back. Maybe the derailer should've been replaced after all? But at least it braked again like a new bike. And I'll probably have to bring it back before he closes in summer, as he didn't think the chain would last that long. And I'm not a bike snob, but the bike needs to be reasonably good to get me to work in an efficient way, and back!

As new!

Spring!

It's meteorological spring! And it has been feeling like spring. I was quite happy running in only my shorts and vest on the first day of March. And you can see it all around as well. Daffodils and snowdrops everywhere! And the plants and the trees are getting leaves. And the days are getting longer.

Spring isn’t actually my favourite season. I quite like bare trees and dramatic skies. But I do enjoy the perks of spring! And I’ll get mentally ready for the gardening season to start again… 

I know we can still get a cold spell, but at the moment, that is difficult to imagine. It feels like winter is over! 

Bridge not tidal anymore - for now

I had to bring my bike to the bicycle repair shop, so I drove. In the olden days, I would have biked in, and hitched a ride back with Susan, but given that she has moved house, I can't do that anymore. With Martin also having moved house and Chris having changed job, I have to rely on myself now! And that was ok, because it was a Tuesday, and then I have track training. I must admit I sometimes find it hard to bike all the way home after a full day of work and then track training, lugging not only my normal work luggage with me up the hill, but also my running gear.

What does all of this have to do with the bridge? Well! The track is on the mainland, so I have to cross a bridge to get there. I assumed the old bridge would still be tidal, but just to be on the safe side drove past it on my way to the new bridge. Lo and behold, I could just cross! The bridge was a two-way thing again! It meant I was a bit early at the track, but that is ok. And the next day, back on my bike, I could go over the road again, and didn't have to go over the footpath.

Two way bridge! 

I did notice in the local media, though, that this was only temporary relief. The week after, the bridge would go back to tidal. I don't think we are out of the woods anytime soon. But what can we do? We'll have to put up with it!

Automatically feeding the cat

When I spend the night at Neil’s, I have to leave some food out for the cat. It doesn't work so well. She eats it as soon as I put it in her bowl, and then she has to either fast or eat rodents until I get back. I can't leave so much that she won't eat it in one go; she is on a diet. It's not an ideal situation.

Neil has timed food bowls for his cat. They have a lid on, with inbuilt timers, and after the number of hours you set it to, the lid is opened. And he even uses them when he is home. If the cat sees that there are still-closed lids, she knows that at some point they will open, and it doesn't require input from Neil. That means that she does not incessantly howl at him. It seems that she does have that habit if he's not using them. And he often is in online meetings!

I have now nicked his idea, and got me a similar food bowl, where you can provide two meals and set the timers. I thought it was likely, but not sure, that she would understand how it worked. Soon after I had put the food in and set the timer, she was sniffing at them. She clearly understood what was in there! And she was pawing at them as well.

When I came back after the first time using them, the lids were open and the food was gone. Success! I will be using this more often. And it can only do two meals, but if I am away longer than that, I prefer that someone comes in and gives her a bit of attention as well. Cats need more than food! But if I'm away for only one night, I don't arrange a catsitter, and I think this device will make such situations easier. And I might as well also use it when I'm home late, for instance because of track training! 

The traditional and novel food bowls

Pub, finally

I suppose you can tell we are middle-aged! Or are we just citizens of our time? I first met Neil in July, and we went for a walk. We've been doing lots of walks since. All very healthy and responsible! I suppose in my 20s, I would instead have done lots of pub visits. And the same for Neil’s 20s.

Have we been entirely pub-free for these eight months? No! We once went for a pub meal before a walk. I think he had a meal that was actually cooked there, but mine was clearly just from the freezer and the microwave. That was a bit disappointing. Neither of us was having alcohol if I remember correctly. Not the sort of pub visit I would have recognised in my 20s. And the same for a drink we had after a walk. We both had one alcohol-free beer!

Have I been entirely turned off pubs and alcohol? No! So I thought it would be nice to go to the pub  together one day. And after the Borders League race, I actually felt like having a beer. So we headed down the hill. At the foot of the Orme there is the King's Head, which advertise itself as Llandudno’s oldest pub. A fine venue for the occasion! 

It was indeed lovely! The pub has a classic interior, with a huge fireplace that we were sitting near, and they had local beer on tap. What's not to like! And I only had one, but I did enjoy relaxing with an actual beer after strenuous exercise earlier that day. Maybe we'll go more often!