Thanks for that @Eric Bloodaxe I'm glad that none of us found him and that someone actually took the time to hand him in rather than leave him where he was. 

 

What ship were you on? You should have let me know and I would have come down the pier and waved at you 😀

 

Did you go ashore and take a tour? Or stayed onboard and make the most of the amminities? 🍔🍗🍖🍧🍷🍸🍹🍺

48 minutes ago, Turvey said:

Thanks for that @Eric Bloodaxe I'm glad that none of us found him and that someone actually took the time to hand him in rather than leave him where he was. 

 

What ship were you on? You should have let me know and I would have come down the pier and waved at you 😀

 

Did you go ashore and take a tour? Or stayed onboard and make the most of the amminities? 🍔🍗🍖🍧🍷🍸🍹🍺

We were on Balmoral. We've intended to visit Orkney and Shetland for years but never managed it for one reason or another. Long story, but this short cruise came up after various Covid related cancellations so we went for it as a quick first look round.

I'm not a great fan of cruise ships (the Mrs is a bit more keen) but they can be a handy way to get to places. Anyway, as a rule I can't get back on dry land fast enough once we dock so we did a tour, then did our own thing the rest of the time wandering about. (I think you're right about the on-board facilities, though, Kevin. I'm pretty sure a lot of folks couldn't care less about where the ship goes, they're only there for the inclusive food/booze/entertainment!)

We took a "wartime history tour" which turned out to be a great way to see a lot of Mainland - Scapa Flow, Stromness - and the guy doing it was very good indeed.

A couple of things we noticed in particular:

The road surfaces seemed a lot better maintained than round our way!

Very interested to see EV experience drives available in Kirkwall in a variety of vehicles, and EV charger provision seemed quite good. I'm assuming it's a "thing" there because of renewable energy - wind/tidal?

Pretty sure we'll be back for a longer stay in the future, though I'm guessing the weather may not always be as glorious as it was this time?!

 

 

3 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

We were on Balmoral. We've intended to visit Orkney and Shetland for years but never managed it for one reason or another. Long story, but this short cruise came up after various Covid related cancellations so we went for it as a quick first look round.

I'm not a great fan of cruise ships (the Mrs is a bit more keen) but they can be a handy way to get to places. Anyway, as a rule I can't get back on dry land fast enough once we dock so we did a tour, then did our own thing the rest of the time wandering about. (I think you're right about the on-board facilities, though, Kevin. I'm pretty sure a lot of folks couldn't care less about where the ship goes, they're only there for the inclusive food/booze/entertainment!)

We took a "wartime history tour" which turned out to be a great way to see a lot of Mainland - Scapa Flow, Stromness - and the guy doing it was very good indeed.

A couple of things we noticed in particular:

The road surfaces seemed a lot better maintained than round our way!

Very interested to see EV experience drives available in Kirkwall in a variety of vehicles, and EV charger provision seemed quite good. I'm assuming it's a "thing" there because of renewable energy - wind/tidal?

Pretty sure we'll be back for a longer stay in the future, though I'm guessing the weather may not always be as glorious as it was this time?!

 

 

You really are just back off the cruise! Docked today? Here on Saturday? You certainly got a decent day 😎 the only guarantee about Orkney weather is that you can't guarantee what it's going to do! ⛈️☔🌦️☀️❄️ 

Glad you enjoyed yourselves and you got a decent tour guide. We had a tour to Barcelona one day a few years ago and the guide wasn't very good and kinda spoilt the whole day. 

The roads in general aren't too bad right enough, pity that the local 'slag off the council on Facebook' group  don't drive "South" much to see how good they are in comparison 🙄

Pretty sure I've seen somewhere that per capita, Orkney has the highest rate of EV ownership in Britain, maybe even Europe. Not sure if it's anything to do with renewables or not, apparently we export more electricity than we use, BUT due to the way the grid works we pay more than just about everyone else in the country! 🤷

 

 

13 minutes ago, Turvey said:

You really are just back off the cruise! Docked today? Here on Saturday? You certainly got a decent day 😎 the only guarantee about Orkney weather is that you can't guarantee what it's going to do! ⛈️☔🌦️☀️❄️ 

Glad you enjoyed yourselves and you got a decent tour guide. We had a tour to Barcelona one day a few years ago and the guide wasn't very good and kinda spoilt the whole day. 

The roads in general aren't too bad right enough, pity that the local 'slag off the council on Facebook' group  don't drive "South" much to see how good they are in comparison 🙄

Pretty sure I've seen somewhere that per capita, Orkney has the highest rate of EV ownership in Britain, maybe even Europe. Not sure if it's anything to do with renewables or not, apparently we export more electricity than we use, BUT due to the way the grid works we pay more than just about everyone else in the country! 🤷

 

 

Yes, we were off the ship in Newcastle cruise terminal by 7.30 am this morning, caught the 8.58am train to York, jumped straight in a taxi at York station and back home by 10.20am, so very good journey!😀

Get your council slaggers to have a motoring holiday in North Yorkshire or Northumberland, that'll teach 'em!

The tour guide (who really was good) told us about the nett export of renewable power (but not the highest price bit!) There's always a catch, isn't there?!

On 6/4/2022 at 1:42 PM, StephenFord said:

In my late teens, I had the absolute privilege of flying a very small Cessna, single engine plane. I can confirm the scariest part of flying, was the landing! Although to be fair, an analogy would be like controlling a Robin Reliant (the Cessna), to an F1 car, or HGV to a proper commercial airliner. To increase drag and slow down even quicker, use to flick open all the windows 🤣

My instructor once commented that he could tell how hard I was working (trying circuits and bumps in a nice crosswind, turbulence up to about 600') by how much I was sweating at the end of the lesson - deffo needed the big fan on the front of the plane to help me cool down ...

1)High gas price. 

2) Using Mobile phone while driving.

Bit of a long shot but wondering if any here has any 'trade tips' about quarter turn isolators...

Basically, I've got one that's very stiff, and the flat hole has been semi rounded over time as well (the gap is much wider than a standard flat head so slips easily).  I could really do with turning it off, but don't want to risk damaging it any further, causing a leak, or turning it off and then not being able to turn it back on again!  Any ideas...?

9 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Bit of a long shot but wondering if any here has any 'trade tips' about quarter turn isolators...

Basically, I've got one that's very stiff, and the flat hole has been semi rounded over time as well (the gap is much wider than a standard flat head so slips easily).  I could really do with turning it off, but don't want to risk damaging it any further, causing a leak, or turning it off and then not being able to turn it back on again!  Any ideas...?

Get a new one if it is easy to change. Failing that try let some Silicone spray seep down the spindle.

If it is somewhere out of sight and used a lot I prefer the quarter turn ones ones with a handle, but the pipework might need to be altered. 

5 hours ago, Tizer said:

Get a new one if it is easy to change. Failing that try let some Silicone spray seep down the spindle.

If it is somewhere out of sight and used a lot I prefer the quarter turn ones ones with a handle, but the pipework might need to be altered. 

Replacement isn't an option unfortunately.  I'm only needing to use it again now because two other parts of the system are also awaiting repair.

I would prefer a lever type if it was ever changed.  Have been looking for a conversion kit to add a lever without opening the pipework.  In my mind, it should be fairly easy to make a bracket that holds an L shaped lever tightly into the slot....so seems odd there aren't any manufactured.

I was also wondering if there was a proper tool, either L shaped key or T bar, that fits the slot snugly, as even on my bit sets, none of the flatblades are even close to fitting!

Sure I remember seeing a top tip on a DIY programme a while ago about making a loose fitting flat blade fill a screw head tightly but annoyingly I can't remember what the actual tip was!

@TomsFocus could you get a butter knife etc in the groove long ways, using it more like a lever than a screwdriver? 

 

Tip regarding lever type isolators. Turn them on and off a few times a year to save them from seizing up and breaking when you REALLY need to close them!!! 

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

I was also wondering if there was a proper tool, either L shaped key or T bar, that fits the slot snugly, as even on my bit sets, none of the flatblades are even close to fitting!

Sure I remember seeing a top tip on a DIY programme a while ago about making a loose fitting flat blade fill a screw head tightly but annoyingly I can't remember what the actual tip was!

I've never seen a purpose made tool or a Lever conversion. I'm lucky that I have all my fathers and grandfathers old tools to get me out of trouble for things like that. The modern Bit Sets are not that great 

The only other thing I could think off is putting a bit of thin Sandpaper over the Bit to take up the slack and provide some friction, Might not help though and if it is not in a position that you can put all your bodyweight on it then it could be difficult.

12 hours ago, Turvey said:

@TomsFocus could you get a butter knife etc in the groove long ways, using it more like a lever than a screwdriver? 

Ah, that's an interesting idea.  I don't own a butter knife (butter bread with a serrated one! 😮 ) but now wondering if I have anything similar.  Sure I've got a strong scraper type tool that could be about the right thickness with a sturdy handle.  Will have a look over the weekend.

 

11 hours ago, Tizer said:

I've never seen a purpose made tool or a Lever conversion. I'm lucky that I have all my fathers and grandfathers old tools to get me out of trouble for things like that. The modern Bit Sets are not that great 

The only other thing I could think off is putting a bit of thin Sandpaper over the Bit to take up the slack and provide some friction, Might not help though and if it is not in a position that you can put all your bodyweight on it then it could be difficult.

Will try the sandpaper tip as well!  Don't think that's the one I saw before though.  It is in an awkward position tbh, and I daren't put too much weight against it as the pipe isn't braced at all.  Also daren't hold it with my other hand in case of slipping with the screwdriver.   Would rather not mess with it at all but it's increasingly becoming the only option.

A lot of modern tools seem to be really poor quality even from big brands.  I've still got quite a few of my Grandad's tools...although your grandad's tools are  likely to be considerably older!

Anyone recommend an online card shop that doesn't charge daft amounts of postage?  Looks like eBay is the only option for sub £2 Father's Day cards delivered...

 

 

On 6/4/2022 at 9:31 AM, iantt said:

This is a do and don't like I suppose. 

It's nice we got away for our hols to maderia yesterday. 

But don't like we had to wait over 3 hrs at very busy airport for our aircraft to be fixed. First we were told the plane was delayed  being cleaned out . Then the more worrying statement that the engineers had tried to do a software upload to the aircraft system and were now checking the software for bugs.!! Then announced the software hadn't downloaded on to the floppy disk in the aircraft !!!!! Really!. Was the Boeing running Windows 95?? 

There were 180 worried passengers when we finally took off thinking we might need to switch the aircraft off and on again at 30,000 feet to reboot. 

I went to Egypt and had a blast. So much history and so little time to stand and admire it all.

Price of petrol .... £1.86 / l for unleaded in Southend on sea, Essex  Shell.

Time till £2.00/l ? Answers on a postcard please!

 

Thought I had a worn USB-C charge port on my phone.  The charge cable won't stay in unless wedged with something.  Just came across a spare new cable in a drawer so tried it, and that one doesn't go in far enough at all! On closer inspection, the charge port appears to be full of belly button fluff...  

Blowing doesn't have enough force to remove it.  I don't want to stick anything metal in there.  And I don't have any toothpicks or cocktail sticks...any suggestions for suitable 'tools' I may have around the house?

Metal shouldn't be too much of an issue as long as the device isn't on and you're not too violent. Option B would be to use an old toothbrush (not your current one, though), or maybe some cardboard or tape rolled up into a suitable pointing tool.

If you're still concerned about the metal, combine that with option B by wrapping some tape around something metal.

12 minutes ago, erictcleric said:

Metal shouldn't be too much of an issue as long as the device isn't on and you're not too violent. Option B would be to use an old toothbrush (not your current one, though), or maybe some cardboard or tape rolled up into a suitable pointing tool.

If you're still concerned about the metal, combine that with option B by wrapping some tape around something metal.

Thanks Eric.

Trying to avoid turning it off if possible, smartphones take so long to boot up nowadays, and I'm slightly worried this one won't come back on at all.

The gap is surprisingly small, just attempted to wrap tape around a small metal nail but that was too thick.  Tape itself is too soft.  Might just give it a go with the nail alone later if I dare turn it off.

 

@TomsFocus old credit card or similar type of thing and cut it down to a point. Might work? 

1 hour ago, Turvey said:

@TomsFocus old credit card or similar type of thing and cut it down to a point. Might work? 

Lol, be very sure it is an old card before you cut it! I speak from (very embarrassed) experience!😀

11 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Lol, be very sure it is an old card before you cut it! I speak from (very embarrassed) experience!😀

Senior moment? 😀

7 minutes ago, Turvey said:

Senior moment? 😀

 I'd love to be able to make that excuse, Kevin (and often do nowadays!) but this was quite some time ago, hence the embarassment!😀

Lol, don't think I have any old cards.  Would probably have been ideal for this but I tend to cut them up and bin them straight away to avoid any mistakes with the new ones later on!

Anyway, I did switch it off and used a nail...a large amount of fluff cane out, but the plug is still loose unfortunately.  Might have to look into new phones again soon.

Things I don't like - heat definitely cracks the top 10!!

Topped out at 32.4c around 6pm outside yesterday, still above 30c indoors today.  🥵

Genuinely can't believe people pay hundreds of pounds and spend hours sat in tin cans full of other peoples breath/farts to experience this elsewhere!  

Simple Spelling !

Firstly let me be very clear, I'm not good at spelling, but I know that and so try to check the spelling of words I'm unsure of.

That said I'm finding myself getting more and more 'wound-up' by the increasing number of people unable to spell a simple 3 letter word.

OFF   is the opposite to ON.

It requires the use of two 'F' otherwise it spells OF (pronounced 'ov')

Even in today's anything goes education system, schools must be teaching the spelling of 3 letter words ?

OK, today's rant over, I'm away for a lie down in a dark room 🤣