So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

themadvix

An hour and 15 minutes on hold to Eon before the call was answered.... 😡 And then he only talked to me (rather than Mr MV as it's all in his name) because he didn't actually have anything to tell me, other than that the email had 'gone to a dormant account' - that being the email address that is on the bottom of their solar emails then.... The man I spoke to was nice and very apologetic, so I can't complain about him, but they have a week to get their act together or we'll be within our rights to go to the Ombudsman. Have sent through the evidence he requested so hopefully things start moving now. Also copied me in on my reply, so hopefully they get the idea that I can be dealt with too.

Have posted two cards this morning - I needed a walk to burn off the adrenalin! - and chased up a 'refund' from milkman that hasn't appeared. Made excellent progress on my work whilst I was on hold at least! Lunch will be paninis (and tiny bit of leftover dinner), and dinner will be hm pizza - I've not started the dough yet, but have a plan for 3pm.

Suffolk_lass

Well done for persisting. It paid off with me!

rtandon27

1.25 hours! Yikes - well done for seeing it through.

themadvix

Suffolk_lass said:

Well done for persisting. It paid off with me!

With M&M or solar issues?

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks SL and RT - I don't like people keeping hold of my money, so persistence is my middle name! (I wish it was, it's better than what it really is!).

So sign of M&M refund or response yet, but movement is happening with Eon at least. 

Mr MV and I had a very disrupted night of sleep last night, which means we are both knackered this morning. Cats were noisy, a car alarm kept going off (resulting in us both checking it wasn't our car) and then just couldn't get back to sleep.

We had hm pizza last night, using some hm pizza sauce from the freezer, and some Olio peppers, toms and spring onions. We also tidied the spirits cupboard by finishing the Pimms (it had one jug's worth in and was really irritating me!) - we had some Olio cucumber and strawbs, so it seemed like a useful use of them! This may of course have contributed to the poor night's sleep?

Today, I've got plenty of work to be getting on with. I am also collecting a FBMP cat scratching post (£3, our boys get through them), popping to Lidl (same town as scratching post) - we need various basics, and hopefully getting the dahlia stakes I need from the B&M in the adjacent town.

I'm going to have the leftovers of Sunday's dinner for lunch and Mr MV is having a frozen Olio sandwich (plan to 'toastie it in a frying pan) - not that he knows this yet. No idea about dinner at this point, but worst case, I'll make daal I think (in fact, that could be quite nice as we've not had it in a while (and can enjoy honey-flavoured flatbreads with it).

MS things:
* HW and clicks done - £1.10 won
* PA survey - over £30 now for the month
* NV survey
* YG survey
* Took careful advantage of the sun yesterday - used my IP to cook the cats' chicken during the afternoon, so only used solar for this (no battery) and then made sure we had pizza during the last of the daylight (mostly), so used battery and sunshine, topped up with a bit of grid power. 

99.1 miles cycled on my bike = £44 of cost offset in first month (despite the weather).

Gratitudes:
* There was cycle parking at Costco!
* A random detour after my Costco trip up a path to see where it went...  had to turn around but definitely opportunities for exploration there
* Caffeinated tea.... it's going to be abused this morning!

Have a good day all!

ETA: Think we'll have sausage and mash for dinner as have quite a few Olio potatoes to use. 

Suffolk_lass

Solar issues are resolved in that it is working. The weather has been so pants though that the leccy generated is low, and the battery, at 5kw only gives us an hour and a half of low cost charge. I think I need to change the time it charges too as it seems it uses this source as soon as it is charged up, and the electrician had that running 01.00-05.00 - so we initially used this before day (premium) rate even started. I moved it on an hour but I need to check when it runs until as I think it may be 07.00 or even 07.30 in winter (and an hour later BST). The clock doesn't change, it is GMT. I need to work on doing things in the day. I will read the meter on Saturday but be ready for questions...

M&S refunded one of the bouquets and took 10% off the other.

themadvix

Suffolk_lass said:

Solar issues are resolved in that it is working. The weather has been so pants though that the leccy generated is low, and the battery, at 5kw only gives us an hour and a half of low cost charge. I think I need to change the time it charges too as it seems it uses this source as soon as it is charged up, and the electrician had that running 01.00-05.00 - so we initially used this before day (premium) rate even started. I moved it on an hour but I need to check when it runs until as I think it may be 07.00 or even 07.30 in winter (and an hour later BST). The clock doesn't change, it is GMT. I need to work on doing things in the day. I will read the meter on Saturday but be ready for questions...

M&S refunded one of the bouquets and took 10% off the other.

You should be able to set battery not to discharge until a certain time, even once it's finished charging. The weather is indeed pants (and we were caught out by the clock change too, in terms of how long the battery got to charge). Is your Aga still on, or has it gone off now?

Glad you got the M&S money back eventually - although as you said, it wasn't truly good CS!

Suffolk_lass

Aga is still on at the moment (oil heating hardly kicking in because of that). It will snow when we turn it off (normally, and a heatwave when we turn it on too). I need to read more of the instruction book, clearly

EssexHebridean

I feel your pain about trying to handle a wet muddy foldy bike without getting covered in wet or mud! Best technique I've found is to use a hand on the back parcel rack, and a hand on the frame on the opposite side (so the bike can't "escpe" from it's folded state IYSWIM) and then use the seat against my middle as a sort of fulcrum to swing the wheels up and out and manouevre it into the car from there. Easier by miles getting it into MrEH's (flat boot access) car than mine (standard hatchback) too. Mine weighs 16kg which I suspect may be less than yours though. Another thing to note when putting it into a car is if it has to be laid down on its side, then it seems best to put the gears upwards - otherwise movement can lead to the thing losing its chain which is a PITA. 

themadvix

Thanks EH, I think that makes sense. My bike is surprisingly only 1.5 kg heavier than yours, so it should be doable, although it is a hatchback to get it into. Useful info about the gears too. It also doesn't help that the bike is quite stiff because I haven't folded it much. When/if we ever get a dry day I'll give it a bit of a wash and grease the folding mechanisms, which should help.

@Suffolk_lass - please give us forewarning about the weather changes then! 🤣 That's a small battery for dealing with that size draw. Bear in mind that unless the actual battery is larger than 5 kW, you won't be able to discharge the full amount (for battery life/management etc.). Our 5.2 kW battery has a useable amount of 3.7 kW (ish? Mr MV is on a call, so I can't check).

Have been out, collected the cat post, spent £12.53 in Lidl and got my dahlia stakes (£21) - hooray! Less than half the price of B&Q (£48). Back to work now, but will go for a walk in a bit as some kind soul hasn't put enough postage on something they've sent us, so I have a surcharge postcard to send back to RM. It had better be something good! (I used RM survey stamps to cover the cost.)

Have got sausages our for Mr MV's dinner (mine cook from frozen) and rolls and sliced chicken (both Olio) for his lunch tomorrow.