Next steps; grip-relaxing bimbling, and avoiding the temptations

Suffolk_lass

So yesterday, the solar installation was completely removed and reinstalled. Everything except the battery that is. It is stuck en-route somewhere, thanks to the delays to shipping. The team doing the install were pleasant and open, and it was clear that our installation originally was more akin to something a home owner might have installed, themselves and did not reflect the standards of work we paid for. The chaps on the roof confirmed that the array on the kitchen roof was missing the optimisers that we paid for. So whoever did the install stole £250-worth of equipment. It is clear that the sub-contracted work was never checked.

At one point yesterday mid-morning, someone, who clearly did not wish to speak to us, pulled up in a four-wheeled truck like Mr Sl's new one and unloaded several boxes of kit, then walked round, looked at everything, spoke to the team and left again. I would lay money on this being one of the directors. I intend having a follow-up discussion about batteries on Monday, having primed the chap who did the electrics, with our desire and need to have increased wattage. While he had clearly been told not to discuss anything with us, he did agree with my analysis and to feed back on my position, and confirmed he had done so, before he left (with a jar each of our honey, to say thank you to the team who came yesterday). So it goes on.

After that I rushed into the nearby town to collect my prescription and buy and post a nice card to my Mum, posted in the PO. I'm about to order flowers for her for Wednesday, as she did all the work to bring me into the world sixty-something years ago!

I'm at a business-ifying your beekeeping event all day today, so will leave it there, except to say that the window cleaner texted to say they are coming today, and I asked them to do the solar panels and the window they usually do above where the battery was. A timely call!

Watty1

sorry to read about your mum and her health and what a relief to get the solar re-done and done properly this time.

Happy revising - I'm rooting for you to ace the exam.

beanielou

Glad the solar is now redone.

Makingabobor2

Good to hear the solar panels are sorted out.

weenancyinAmerica

Hope you are planning something fun for your birthday! Wednesday you say?

Suffolk_lass

Regular readers will know we have raided my savings pot that was earmarked for the honey room build to buy Mr Sl a new (to him) truck. It is young enough to be covered by the manufacturer's warranty for 6 years and the garage that sold it has provided another warranty of 12 months. So last week it spent a day at the (much closer) service centre of the dealership from where we bought it, and it may yet need all its injectors changing if the diesel particulate filter comes on again. Tonight it is going in again for another piece of work to be undertaken to align and balance wheels. Just very inconvenient rather than costly.

In the meantime, monitoring the heating oil situation, Mrs Smug here (that would be me) reassured herself we had plenty, with three of ten bars on the tank monitor (meaning up to 468 litres litres as it meant up to 39% of a 1200 litre tank). So yesterday I checked again and the little filler hose symbol is flashing - meaning a maximum of 338 litres, 29% - I must not let it get to the sludge in the bottom stage (this is not going to be huge as it is a relatively new tank) but I do normally try and guess so I can get 1000 litres in. It's that game now. I want to gauge how long it takes us to use another tenth (so when the final indicator is all that is left - even that is up to 240 litres). It's a game of brinkmanship! Not to mention the price!

Anyway, the oil heating is off (just hot water now, and frost protection) and we are relying on the heat from the aga, a couple of small radiators (under my desk so my hands and feet don't freeze! and in the bathroom, because it's a rule) and the log-burner. Therein lies the issue. As I was topping up the log-burner with another log, I thought to myself, I won't take the enormous one as I'll be going to bed shortly (and Mr Sl will move into the dining room to be on his computer then). I moved the smaller one. I may have just touch the big one - which fell on his closed laptop lid. I have broken it, well, the screen.

Cue research, a visit to the Indian-meal named electrical shop (where dog was much fussed and admired) a decision was made. Not in stock and no tech people able to transfer data at the weekend. Then I reminded Mr Sl he could probably use a TV screen to retrieve everything on his hard disk and store it either in some cloud storage, or on a removable TB hard disk. He has changed his mind, found something he says is better value online and spent last night with a small TV set and an HDMI cable moving data. He's relaxed about it. Stuff happens. I am not feeling too bad as he has looked at least 3 times at replacing it and can no longer get spares. It was bought in 2019 and runs the four squares symbol software. It's just a PITA in terms of outlay and timing.

In the yang to this ying, DS &P came over, and offered to increase what they pay towards running the house they live in, and asked if they can have a lodger for a year. That would be a most welcome injection of money. The young man has split from her best friend and has no savings, no home, no job, and cannot get a job with no home. As long as he doesn't bring his four-poster bed, it is fine, and our branch of the bank of M&D will apparently wait for him to collect his first wages, once he is employed again. There is plenty of agency work in that town, but he has no personal transport, so living with them, gives him an address to apply from, the ability to walk to work and save money like mad for a year to get back on his feet is the thing. I do hope he doesn't take the P, as several of DS's former friends had no compunction in doing, stealing, damaging and leaving without paying. They are sure he won't…

Right, back to exam revision

foxgloves

What a palaver everything seems to be for you atm, @Suffolk_lass. I'm wishing you a peaceful productive morning of bee exam revision.

F

P.S The Black Russian tomato seedlings are aready waiting to be potted up, though it's unlikely to be today as I have embarked on a major house clean. Weather looks decent tomorrow & Weds for outdoor tasks.

Makingabobor2

Oops about the laptop, but at least Mr SL seems to have sorted things out for now. What a world we live in now that we are so reliant on technology and can't really function without it. I would love to go back in time and live a simpler life.

Suffolk_lass

Just took a sneaky check of my CC bill for April. The statement is not until the end of the month. Approaching £5k with the car money (deposit then £2000) and the house insurance (over £2k thanks to being thatched). I have put the foreign spending credit card from the X-men in my phone to use as I will have to buy fuel before Saturday (the local garage closes at the weekend) so I can get up to my Mum's without buying motorway priced fuel. I shall have to further raid the Tilly Tidy stash to clear them. What with Mr Sl needing a laptop and the new truck needing some sort of rear cover to stop air drag, it's going to take a fair bit to restore finances so my pig-shed rebuild into a honey house can happen.

I'm confident we can eke out the oil we have, providing Spring arrives. Another fire in the woodburner last night - at least it ensures there is no nest of noisy jackdaws up there.

More revision - my weakest topic - genetics this morning. Must get on with it

trix-a-belle

I hope DS learnt from the previous ones, he is now supported by P so fingers crossed.

Sending you oil saving thoughts, I got an order in on the 1st which, after way too many hours on the phone confirming what was actually happening regarding honouring prices or not, eventually got delivered yesterday. I had tried to tweak my boiler & thermostats down a bit but it didn't like that & instead hates me and just fell over completely 🤦‍♀️