January 2012
2 posts
This whole Northern Lights thing...
Hi Someone recently commented that I hadn’t posted anything for a few weeks - thankfully, nothing broken (ha-ha) but seriously, life is ticking along and it’s nearly February. Or put another way, this time last month was Christmas Eve! Anyway, this whole ‘Northern Lights’ thing - you know, them being visible from the UK rather than just the outer rims of the Arctic. Is...
A locked rear door will fail your car's MOT
I thought it was worth sharing that if, like me, you had a broken door lock (in this case a Skoda Octavia with a locked rear passenger door), then make sure it works before taking your car for an MOT as a ‘permanently’ locked shut door will fail the MOT - even if it’s a back door. The problem was that the door had locked shut on its deadlock some months ago, so I couldn’t...
December 2011
1 post
Headlamp bulb replacement on an 02 Ford Galaxy 2.3...
I had to replace a dipped beam headlamp bulb on Mandy’s Ford Galaxy (2.3 Zetec on 02 plate) last weekend for her. Silly me, without removing the old one first, I headed for the local auto spares shop in Buxton. When I got there, I was informed by the very helpful man behind the counter, that they had 2 bulbs listed. One was £7 odd whilst the other, a gas discharge type was around £60. I...
October 2011
3 posts
Why I queued for the iPhone 4 (not iPhone4S)
It was a bright morning last June - the new iPhone 4 had launched a few days earlier and getting a lift in with my boss - himself an apple ‘devotee’, we were discussing when each of us was going to get the new iPhone. As we had a habit of going in particularly early, we agreed we’d round up our old iPhone3 (in his case 3gs) boxes and phones in case the opportunity...
Replacing the indicator relay on a Skoda Octavia...
Replacing the indicator relay on a Skoda Octavia 1.9TDI Elegance (on a ‘53 plate). Tools required: Small flat bladed screwdriver Time required: 5 minutes Parts required: Replacement flasher relay unit / hazard warning switch (it’s all one unit!) When the indicators on my Skoda Octavia (1.9 TDI ‘53 plate) started beating erratically - sometimes a double click, sometimes...
Why brands don't fare better on Twitter - could it...
Inspired by a post by Chris Brogan, which I actually picked up on via Google+, who looked at a few corporate twitter accounts and basically ripped the hell out of them for doing it so badly (building a brand on twitter), it occurred to me that as a company / small business / sole-trader tweeting from a ‘business’ account, things can soon go horribly wrong. Especially when the...
September 2011
2 posts
Smeg Dishwasher on / off button replacement - a...
Total loss of power on Smeg Dishwasher - Model Number: DF 612 SE - during wash cycle. Hardly funny - a Smeg dishwasher fully loaded, stopping in the middle of a washing cycle due to some form of total electrical failure. First step was to remove all the dirty pots and wash them by hand - didn’t like to risk that there was still powerful cleaning agents that hadn’t been...
Uh-Oh! Our Smeg Dishwasher's control panel just...
I’ve already affected a repair to the Smeg dishwasher when it’s door catch broke in January. Now it’s control panel has gone dark - forums point to the problem being with the dishwashers power switch. Apparently, all that heat can break up the insulation around the back of the switch contacts, causing them to short. A new switch is on order so I’ll attempt the repair...
August 2011
3 posts
On the London Eye
After frantically watching the news for Riot updates, my parents finally decided to take their 4 grandchildren (aged 15 to 10) to London today. The trip, to coincide with my two visiting from Derbyshire for the week had been planned for some time - tickets booked and paid for etc. So you can imagine the hand-wringing and shall we - shan’t we go conversations there’s been this week. ...
Plastic bag usage up by 5% - I have a theory
Plastic bag usage up by 5% - I have a theory. Yes shoppers, shop owners and all the politicians in between were equally shocked to hear the plastic bag usage had grown by 5% recently. This is despite ‘bags for life’ being thrust into our faces at every cash till opportunity and the abundance of “bad for the environment’ messages in the media. However, I have a theory. ...
More Nissan bashing from Top Gear - this time it's...
More Nissan bashing from Top Gear - this time it’s the Nissan Leaf electric car. Poor old Nissan, they can’t seem to do a lot right in Top Gear’s eyes can they? First was the £6995 car that had optional electric windows… I remember when the Austin Ambassador’s (a large family car of the early ‘80’s) big selling point was front electric windows and (hand onto...
July 2011
2 posts
Musical tribute to the Shuttle Atlantis - the end...
My own little musical tribute to the entire Shuttle Program as we await the safe return of the final Space Shuttle mission - ST135 this morning. You’ve enthralled us guys!
Squirm TV
Is it just me or do we live in an age where the only ‘good’ television is that in which we get to see someone publicly break down in front of millions of viewers? Nothing gets me reaching for the off button more than the uncomfortable feelings I get when watching such baiting by an interviewer. Take the other morning on BBC Breakfast News. The pair of presenters were interviewing a...
June 2011
4 posts
Looking for new people to follow on Twitter?
What do you look for when hunting for new people to follow on Twitter? Sparkling repartee, pearls of SEO wisdom, exclusive offers and discounts, celebrity gossip, a fresh perspective on world news or someone who shares your interests (professionally or personally)? Are their tweets all self-promoting, all replies to other users, singular nonsense, social comment/newsy or just a bunch of...
Petrol Head
Regular readers here will know I became the proud owner of a Skoda Octavia 1.9tdi Elegance in February of this year after my old 2.0 petrol Mazda 626 was cruelly written off during Christmas. After a month of commuting from Buxton to Derby on the Trent Barton Trans Peak service - a 6.40am start and getting back at 7.30pm, you can imagine the journey was wearing a little thin. Anyway, after...
a little Friday groovin' with Anita Ward - Ring My...
Yes, from 1979 folks….
Saturday night entertainment
Has it really come to this? Watching Britain’s Got Talent final again… (wasn’t the reverse order of who’d won a cruel way to deliver the results???)
May 2011
3 posts
B Bumble & The Stingers - Nut Rocker
Positively my favourite boogie-woogie piano tune. If you don’t recognise the band, you’ll recognise the tune. (for years I was convinced it was someone like Jerry Lee Lewis).
Twitter 101 - as I see it
Twitter 101 - My Twitter tips (speaking from personal experience). Everyone’s on about Twitter. Everywhere you turn, every TV or radio you turn on, celebrities, radio DJ’s and the rest of us mere mortals are expressing ourselves (in a 140 characters or less) on one of THE social media platforms. It’s when you start seeing businesses realising the business potential of...
May the Fourth be with You
In tribute to May the 4th (not George Lucas’s birthday as some may claim), check out these brilliant photographs themed around Star Wars Lego (click here) Darth Vader (to Obi-Wan) ” Your toast is ready “ Obi-Wan ” A little on the dark side isn’t it? “ photo credit: Avanaut.
April 2011
2 posts
The simple pleasures in life...
Pretty much every evening (recently) when I’ve been driving home from work along the Ashbourne to Buxton A515 road, just as I’ve come out of Ashbourne, there’s been a black baby rabbit sat in the verge side. Yesterday, my furry companion was joined by a second black baby bunny. Now I find myself hoping they’ll be there when I drive by next time. Really breaks the journey...
How not to make a 'How to' video for replacing a...
A few months ago, I blogged how I’d had to replace the inner handle and lock /n catch mechanism on our Smeg Dishwasher, and the steps I’d taken, including identifying the correct replacement parts from those helpful chappy’s at ESpares (read the full blog post here). At the time, I lamented the fact that despite viewing ESpares well produced video how-to, I couldn’t get...
March 2011
5 posts
Birthday tribute to William Shatner
Music from the end of Star Trek 2 - The Wrath of Khan - where Bones asks Jim how he feels and Jim replies - he feels young, which was really the birthday theme of the movie.
The Cars - Just what I needed
Hadn’t heard this one in a long while… The Cars and Just what I needed. Enjoy.
William Shatner's Shuttle Discovery wake-up song
With William Shatner (Captain Kirk) recording a special wake-up song for the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery (on it’s last mission before being retired to the Smithsonian (I think)), It got me thinking what song would I request for a wake up call? I decided on George Harrison’s Here Comes The Sun. Which song would you choose?
You know when a Cat's ignoring you...
Amy (affectionately known as the ‘fat tubby cat’) certainly knows how to ignore you …
The Demon Cat
This is what happens when you don’t feed your cat! It sits on its dinner plate and fixes you with an eerie stare….
February 2011
4 posts
hadn't heard this song for ages - ahhh - disco...
Gibson Brothers ”QUE SERA MI VIDA”
Love is in the air...
Tips on taking apart a flat pack cabin bed - my...
Having taken apart those flat-pack cabin style children’s beds and moved them between rooms or even houses, I thought I’d write a helpful ‘how-to’ article, based on what I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way). Home Improvement Quotes were kind enough to publish my cabin bed dismantling tips on their blog. Here’s a link to the full article:...
Cause and effect... Solar panels and home...
I was intrigued to read a tweet by http://twitter.com/solarpanelqtr regarding some interesting traffic stats to their blog - http://solarpanelquoter.blogspot.com - a daily renewable energy blog. It seems that they’d noticed a particular amount of visitors flocking to their blog post about Solar Panels affecting home insurance premiums. Silly to repeat it here so here’s a link to the...
January 2011
6 posts
Chocolate Cigarellos (cake decorating) most...
I knew Chocolate Cigarellos (chocolate straws) were popular but crumbs and crikey, according to the Independent, they were the most searched for retail related term last week. Click here to see the Independent’s article on popular search terms: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/retail-words-of-the-week-cake-decorat… Click here to read my recipe article on chocolate cigarellos...
Public Transport does make financial sense - part...
Hi. You’ll recall I wrote the other week, lamenting the cost of public transport between our new home of Buxton and Derby where I work in the imaginatively entitled ‘Public transport doesn’t make financial sense’. See here: http://purple13.blogspot.com/2011/01/public-transport-just-doesn-make.html A couple of interesting updates for you. Firstly, my car was written off...
Replacing the door catch and inner handle on a...
Replacing the door catch and inner handle on a Smeg Dishwasher - Model Number: DF 612 SE (*please note - all links in this post are NON Affiliate). The video ‘how to’ made it look easy - a 3 minute job (if you’d got the right spanner/socket set) and with a little help from eSpares, that was pretty much the case. First off, you need to disconnect the dishwasher from...
Those Chocolate Cake Decorating Straws are called...
You learn something new every day - a prime example was the fact that those fancy chocolate straws (or twirls) which you can use to decorate the sides of cakes etc are actually called Cigarellos. I learnt this after watching the Baking Made Easy programme on the BBC with Lorraine Pascale the other night. Even more interesting is the fact that, depending on which online retailer you get them...
is there still a postal backlog from Christmas?
You hear such contradictory reviews, but the absence of any personal post is no guarantee that there’s still a backlog at the sorting office. However, when you start getting deliveries as late as 5.30pm (by a local ‘postie’ on his way home), then you do begin to wonder if there isn’t some truth in the stories of delayed post. In our house, we were lucky in that those...
Public transport just doesn't make financial sense
My daily commute takes me through 40.1 miles of some of Derbyshire’s most beautiful countryside (much of it through the Peak District itself) as I travel from Buxton to Derby. A round trip of over 80 miles a day. However, with making the move so far from work - a journey time of just under an hour - I thought it only responsible of me to investigate public transport as a cost effective...
December 2010
9 posts
Christmas Top 5 - Number 1
In my Christmas Top 5 songs - at number 1 it just has to be Slade with Merry Christmas Everyone I couldn’t have put it better myself.
Christmas Top 5 - Number 2
Christmas Top 5 - My Number 2 Greg Lake - I Believe in Father Christmas What a triumph of a building crescendo of music to the finale….
Christmas Top 5 - number 3
Wizzard - I wish it could be Christmas every day… C’mon - who doesn’t feel like Christmas when they hear this classic?
Christmas top 5 - Number 4
The Troika from Lieutenant Kije Suite by Prokofiev. Can’t you just feel Santa chasing over the snowy hills?
Christmas top 5 - Number 5 →
Christmas top 5 - Number 5
Boney M - Mary’s boy child.
Google's lack of imagination when searching for... →
Google's lack of imagination when searching for...
Google’s lack of imagination when searching for ‘Christmas Offers’. Trying to come up with some interesting (and affordable) Christmas present ideas for the family, I searched Google for ‘Christmas Offers’. Although I’m pretty sure it’s nothing to do with shopping trends, and more to do with clever search engine optimisation, the results were frankly...
November 2010
14 posts
Replacing a Diplomat Electric Fan Oven Element -... →
Replacing a Diplomat Electric Fan Oven Element -...
Before I start - a warning - STOP! Don’t trust all the online how-to resources and video how-to’s that claim you won’t need to remove the back of the cooker. They may be not entirely accurate, as I found out at the weekend. I’m not the world’s most competent, enthusiastic or machine minded person when it comes to mending home appliances (anything for that matter) but...
Infrastructure first - green cars afterwards - in... →