We moved house this week. We haven't moved very far, just over 4 miles away, but the combination of having more children than bedrooms and needing to get back closer to the school has meant that we are now urban dwellers again. I was a little reticent at first, but I think I am starting to really like the new house.
Well, I say it is new. It is new to us but, in fact, it is an old Victorian house in Larbert. It's not what I had in mind. What I had originally anticipated was a new house, or at least nearly new. Essentially, I had in mind something that may have been built properly by Polish people. Nevertheless, the house we have moved into is spacious and feels solidly put together - I'm just not expecting the cheapest of fuel bills. The fuel is also a big change. For the first time in years we are cooking with gas: At least we should be as soon as someone can work out how the damn stuff works.
The other big difference is the noise. It's not that living in an urban area is noisier, but the noises are different. Instead of tractors, horses, donkeys and my neighbour's falcon, we have urban noises: which essentially means people noises. It's not loud but it certainly is weird. Additionally, I'm quite surprised at how different the garden wildlife is. I can't remember the last time I saw magpies, pigeons and neighbourhood cats wandering through the garden.
The main focus for this week has been moving all our stuff over. I never thought we had that much stuff. Now, I realise, we have tonnes of it; and most of it is complete and utter rubbish. It is currently standing around the house in cardboard boxes. Every time I look into a box it is full of tat. The tat is in various stages of chuck-out-ability but if I attempt to find anything of any value whatsoever it is on a secret vacation with Lord Lucan.
Inevitably, something will not make the move intact. I had my bets on my eldest son's bed. This was one of those high rise kid's beds affairs which was bought from IKEA and assembled in his bedroom. There was no way it was going to exit in one piece and it was disassembled by Allen key and reassembled like a jigsaw with no picture. Miraculously, it went back together in a better state than it left. As it turned out, it was my bed that would not leave in one piece. I had forgotten that the bedroom was actually built around it. That's one for my Christmas present list. So now I am sleeping on a mattress in a downstairs room of an old Victorian house, surrounded by boxes of miscellaneous junk. For some reason I feel like I am in some kind of student dwelling.
The other casualty was the TV. The TV has been on it's way out for years. In truth, it has never worked properly and the features have gradually dropped out. First, it wouldn't work well in digital mode. Then the sound went wonky. Then the digital mode stopped working as Freeview changed their standard yet again to prove what a nonsense my "future proofed" TV was. Then it started to take 5 minutes to start up. Obviously, at this point I should have given up. However the picture was still good. Having moved, I discovered that all the AV leads to replace the failed functions of receiver/amplifier/speakers were all the wrong length. After a frantic search on Amazon, I managed to get hold of all the correct cables. Unfortunately, at this point, the screen doesn't display 16:9 widescreen quite right anymore. Clearly, I need a new telly but I'm skint.
I've managed to get the TV working to the extent that it can be watched. This is a relief as Raymond had been worried that we may not be able to watch Doctor Who - or at least only be able to watch it at my mother-in-laws house whilst she grumbles on about "silly television things" in German. At least we can watch it at home, although possibly with a little sadness following Elizabeth Sladen's sudden death. Anyway, more of that next week.
Saturday 23 April 2011
Saturday 16 April 2011
Summer Tyres
I've posted a couple of times about Winter Tyres. I'm a big fan - at least in Winter. Even in the slightly warmer weather we have had recently they have still performed well and it has been claimed that they can be used all year around in the UK climate. To a point, this is true, but they do have their downsides. Mainly this is because they don't brake as well as Summer Tyres in warm dry conditions as well as tending to wear faster in warm weather. Also, if they are warn down below 4mm they don't actually work properly as Winter tyres when the time comes around. I have the Michelin Primacy tyres in the shed for our family car so swapping them over is a case of a trip down to the tyre fitting centre. However, the small car I use for commuting needs new Summer tyres as I had to chuck the old ones out last October due to wear / degraded rubber which means an expense - and a choice.
Fortunately, ADAC (the German equivalent of the RAC) have published a review of tyres in my size. I find these tyre tests very useful: mainly because they are done very objectively and not just by some auto magazine yob hurling a BMW around a test track. They are also weighted quite sensibly with 20% of the score based on dry road performance, 40% in the wet, 10% each for noise and rolling resistance and 20% for the wear rate. They will also downgrade an overall score if a particular element is particularly poor: mainly this is due to the performance in the wet as manufacturers increasingly try to reduce rolling resistance. The interesting thing with these scores is that it is possible to provide your own weighting. For example, considering I had to throw 2 tyres out through age rather than low tread I may not be so bothered about the wear rate. Similarly, given the rising cost of fuel I may favour a tyre with a lower rolling resistance.
In fact, the rising cost of fuel and impending legislation means that all of the tyres tested have good rolling resistance. They are all very close in this respect apart from one tyre, the Pirelli Cinturato P1, which is notably better but does not appear to be widely available in the UK at the moment (it is a new product). However, the Pirelli does appear to suffer slightly in the wet which is a major concern for me. Aside from that, the other tyres don't have much to chose from but, in the handling stakes, there is a clear winner: the Continental Premium Contact 2. This has been around for a few years (I had them fitted to my old Honda) but they are now available in smaller sizes and, fortunately, they appear to be very commonly available.
I think there is a great tendency in the UK for people to save a few pounds and fit the cheapest tyres possible. I think this is a hugely false economy. Aside from the safety factor it is possible, for a few pounds difference, to improve the basic handling of a vehicle in a way that would have cost hundreds or thousands of pounds when new. Hopefully, these tyres will prove a wise investment and at least I have something suitable lined up when I need to fit the Winter rubber.
Fortunately, ADAC (the German equivalent of the RAC) have published a review of tyres in my size. I find these tyre tests very useful: mainly because they are done very objectively and not just by some auto magazine yob hurling a BMW around a test track. They are also weighted quite sensibly with 20% of the score based on dry road performance, 40% in the wet, 10% each for noise and rolling resistance and 20% for the wear rate. They will also downgrade an overall score if a particular element is particularly poor: mainly this is due to the performance in the wet as manufacturers increasingly try to reduce rolling resistance. The interesting thing with these scores is that it is possible to provide your own weighting. For example, considering I had to throw 2 tyres out through age rather than low tread I may not be so bothered about the wear rate. Similarly, given the rising cost of fuel I may favour a tyre with a lower rolling resistance.
In fact, the rising cost of fuel and impending legislation means that all of the tyres tested have good rolling resistance. They are all very close in this respect apart from one tyre, the Pirelli Cinturato P1, which is notably better but does not appear to be widely available in the UK at the moment (it is a new product). However, the Pirelli does appear to suffer slightly in the wet which is a major concern for me. Aside from that, the other tyres don't have much to chose from but, in the handling stakes, there is a clear winner: the Continental Premium Contact 2. This has been around for a few years (I had them fitted to my old Honda) but they are now available in smaller sizes and, fortunately, they appear to be very commonly available.
I think there is a great tendency in the UK for people to save a few pounds and fit the cheapest tyres possible. I think this is a hugely false economy. Aside from the safety factor it is possible, for a few pounds difference, to improve the basic handling of a vehicle in a way that would have cost hundreds or thousands of pounds when new. Hopefully, these tyres will prove a wise investment and at least I have something suitable lined up when I need to fit the Winter rubber.
Sunday 10 April 2011
The Anti-Sickie
I don't think I've ever pulled a sickie: feigning illness to have a day off work. I may have once had to have a day off due to a largely self-inflicted bout of diarrhoea (my experimental cookery days are now behind me) but I have never claimed to have been infected with the black death merely to get a day's free paid leave. I'd like to think this was due to some kind of moral high-ground but I suspect it is more the horror of daytime telly and being stuck in front of tedious antique shows or Jeremy Kyle for the day. My particular problem seems to be quite the opposite.
I have just had a week's annual leave, taking the family to a cottage in North Wales for the week. It was very nice as well, located about 400 metres up in a Snowdonian rain-cloud. I had planned to do quite a few outdoors type activities with the kids. In fact, I spent most of the week with something somewhere between man-flu and the Ebola virus. This isn't the first time this has happened to me. Whenever, I take serious holiday time off work I end up with some malady or another. I appear to have a serial habit of pulling the Anti-Sickie: actually being ill whilst taking annual leave.
Of course, it does have certain advantages. Producing that much phlegm makes pronouncing Welsh place names a doddle. Not that this has ever caused me any problems - unlike my wife who regards Welsh as a bad hand in Scrabble. This does, of course, cause problems when I'm acting as the invalid sat-nav telling my wife to follow the sign to Llanrwst, Caernafon or Yr Wyddgrug (which is, obviously, pronounced "Mold"). She claims that Polish is far easier to follow - a view I obviously disagree with.
The week hasn't been a complete disaster. We managed to visit a few friends and family in the area and we also managed a few days out. I ended up staying in the car during the beach visit (frankly the beach in Saving Private Ryan looked more inviting the way I felt that day). We also went to Conwy Castle which was the destination for the remedial school kids in Willy Russell's television play, Our Day Out. My kids seemed to run riot around the castle in the same manner but at least they didn't nick all the animals from the zoo. How the BBC didn't manage to lose any of their young actors is anyone's guess.
So we are back home. I'm starting to feel better, which is just as well as I am back to work and on call all next week and we are due to move house after that. However, I really do need to find some way of planning my illnesses more conveniently.
I have just had a week's annual leave, taking the family to a cottage in North Wales for the week. It was very nice as well, located about 400 metres up in a Snowdonian rain-cloud. I had planned to do quite a few outdoors type activities with the kids. In fact, I spent most of the week with something somewhere between man-flu and the Ebola virus. This isn't the first time this has happened to me. Whenever, I take serious holiday time off work I end up with some malady or another. I appear to have a serial habit of pulling the Anti-Sickie: actually being ill whilst taking annual leave.
Of course, it does have certain advantages. Producing that much phlegm makes pronouncing Welsh place names a doddle. Not that this has ever caused me any problems - unlike my wife who regards Welsh as a bad hand in Scrabble. This does, of course, cause problems when I'm acting as the invalid sat-nav telling my wife to follow the sign to Llanrwst, Caernafon or Yr Wyddgrug (which is, obviously, pronounced "Mold"). She claims that Polish is far easier to follow - a view I obviously disagree with.
The week hasn't been a complete disaster. We managed to visit a few friends and family in the area and we also managed a few days out. I ended up staying in the car during the beach visit (frankly the beach in Saving Private Ryan looked more inviting the way I felt that day). We also went to Conwy Castle which was the destination for the remedial school kids in Willy Russell's television play, Our Day Out. My kids seemed to run riot around the castle in the same manner but at least they didn't nick all the animals from the zoo. How the BBC didn't manage to lose any of their young actors is anyone's guess.
So we are back home. I'm starting to feel better, which is just as well as I am back to work and on call all next week and we are due to move house after that. However, I really do need to find some way of planning my illnesses more conveniently.
Friday 1 April 2011
Background Noise
I recently bought another couple of Jazz albums with my latest freebee Amazon voucher: Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage and a Best Of compilation by Weather Report. I knew Birdland by Weather Report and I fancied trying out some of their other stuff. I also had the track Maiden Voyage on a Hancock compilation which I really liked so I thought I'd try the rest of the album. On first listening I really couldn't get into either album. Even Maiden Voyage wasn't as good as I'd remembered and, whilst I'd heard a couple of other tracks on the radio, it really just didn't register with me. Am I over my Jazz fad or is something else amiss?
I listen to music mainly in the car. This does mean that it has to compete with traffic noise although I've never found it that much of a problem - except with classical music. Possibly the quietest car I've ever had was actually one of the smaller cars I've owned. I bought a Skoda Fabia when it first came out and it had an interior which I could describe as very Radio 3 friendly. It really was a calm and peaceful place to be - possibly only matched by Jaguar and Mercedes of cars I've been in. Maybe the fact that the little Skoda was designed by the same people that do Bentley cars has something to do with it but I've never quite found a match for it.
Certainly, my Toyota isn't the quietest but I came to the conclusion that the interior was an intolerable din. It was due to have its 50,000 mile service so I asked the dealer to check it out. What they found was that the auxiliary belt was slipping and a wheel bearing had gone. I had to pay for a new belt but, fortunately, Toyota stumped up the bill for the rest. The result is quite a revelation.
So, in fact, I do like the new albums. Herbie Hancock's nautical adventure from 1965 is as good as I recall and, whilst Birdland is the only track I knew, Weather Report are well worth a listen - sometimes they veer more towards Funk or even Progressive Rock but it's all very interesting. It also goes to show: music in the car is more than just background noise.
I listen to music mainly in the car. This does mean that it has to compete with traffic noise although I've never found it that much of a problem - except with classical music. Possibly the quietest car I've ever had was actually one of the smaller cars I've owned. I bought a Skoda Fabia when it first came out and it had an interior which I could describe as very Radio 3 friendly. It really was a calm and peaceful place to be - possibly only matched by Jaguar and Mercedes of cars I've been in. Maybe the fact that the little Skoda was designed by the same people that do Bentley cars has something to do with it but I've never quite found a match for it.
Certainly, my Toyota isn't the quietest but I came to the conclusion that the interior was an intolerable din. It was due to have its 50,000 mile service so I asked the dealer to check it out. What they found was that the auxiliary belt was slipping and a wheel bearing had gone. I had to pay for a new belt but, fortunately, Toyota stumped up the bill for the rest. The result is quite a revelation.
So, in fact, I do like the new albums. Herbie Hancock's nautical adventure from 1965 is as good as I recall and, whilst Birdland is the only track I knew, Weather Report are well worth a listen - sometimes they veer more towards Funk or even Progressive Rock but it's all very interesting. It also goes to show: music in the car is more than just background noise.
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