April 10th
Blue Badge, Strimmer and a Smart Meter
I recently received a nice letter from Wiltshire Council reminding me that my Blue Badge (disabled parking) was due for renewal. I looked at the Carmarthen CC website which informed me that I could renew on-line or via a paper form. I opted for the latter – all 28 pages! Having plucked up the courage to read it through, I found various items I needed to acquire to complete the process. I contacted my old limb centre in Dorset and received a comprehensive letter covering my physical condition. I then filled in the form and together with a mugshot. Based on previous experience, I opted to hand deliver the letter to the return address for the form. If anybody has visited Carmarthen recently, you will be aware of centralised parking and the one-way system. After parking outside the postal return address, it turns out that it is a cashiers department for the council – no blue badge section. “Sorry, you need to go to Debenhams” – perhaps they now sell the badges in the stationary or accessories section?
So 16 mins later after following the satnav through the one-way system, I park up, £1, at Debenhams carpark, eventually finding the Council Hwb (sic) in the main shop. A nice but useless young lady, female, person of neutral gender, asks me if I have an appointment to see someone in the blue badge section. No I say whereupon she opens the diary and asks when I would like one. Now I say – not the right answer. I then ask if she can put the envelope into the internal mail. No, not without an appointment!!! Jobsworth 101. So I hobble out, navigate back to the original cashiers office, speak to the nice young man I saw earlier who says, no problem, I’ll put it in the internal mail. Now I wait in hope it got where it should and is not sitting in the ‘waiting face to face meeting’ pile.
My 3-year old SGS strimmer/brush cutter started giving me intermittent operation the other week with what I (wrecker of certain automotive mechanical bits), diagnosed as petrol starvation. So on a dry day, I stripped down the 2-stroke fuel tank and carb, noticed the fuel filter was falling apart, cleaned and re-assembled without having anything mechanical left over – bonus point. It actually ran worse! Prior to ordering a new filter/pipe assembly – £25 and 5 days to delivery (Royal Mail 48hr), I contacted the supplier to enquire if the new E10 petrol has any detrimental effects on the engine. All I got back from the tech support was ‘drain the tank over winter’. I diligently fitted new bits and kept pulling on starter till I developed a 1cm blister on my finger, whereupon I took the strimmer to the local mower/chainsaw repair centre. “Sorry, we don’t handle that brand coz we can’t get the spares and if we looked at it, it’s a minimum of £45 and we’ve got 5 weeks backlog. You might want to try replacing the carb. It should be less than £40”. So I ordered a new carb at £18 inc vat and delivery. Seven days later, the carburettor finally arrived. It took 10 mins to replace the old one and the strimmer started on the 4th pull. Later that day, I commenced the bramble clearing in the woods, which has opened up the area for the bluebells, anemones and other ground loving plants. It’s also allowed me to see the assortment of young trees previously buried in the undergrowth.
After many emails to Eon regarding our smart meter, I finally got a reply offering me an installation of a new one. Having been in the house for almost two years with a not so smart meter, I felt I was missing something. It’s not that I want to watch an electricity provider syphoning our hard earned savings away, more that I can look at what equipment/appliances are actually doing the damage. I don’t want to be a “that cuppa just cost us £25.57” or whatever, but if the wireless controls or TV on standby is drawing too much, then that can be addressed by replacing them with lower current versions of turning off when not in use. A new meter was installed within 45 mins and together with the remote monitor, will help monitor our usage, which to be honest seems a lot lower than discussed in the media.
I have been considering for a while the use of a solar panel left over from an old project. It seemed too good to throw away before the move, so I brought it with me. I recon it will fit perfectly on the shed roof (south facing) and will get the sun most of the day – when it’s not raining!. This, with the aid of a controller, inverter and some old car batteries can supply a few hundred watts for garage lighting, low power tools etc. When solar cell and battery technology has improved in cost and efficiency, I will look at the option for the bungalow, but until then a 25 year signup to feed electricity back into the grid is way outside my 10 year plan and budget.
24th April
Emigration, gardening and a stairway to heaven
June got a call from her brother Peter saying that he and his wife Marielle had decided to emigrate to Thailand before the end of May. It’s been a plan of theirs for many years and they bit the bullet during their recent holiday out there. We struggled downsizing before we moved from Worton, but having to put all your possessions into 6 suitcases is something I would never want to contemplate – the stuff of nightmares! The upside however is that they can’t take their plants with them. The back of our car was chocka with strawberry planters, rhododendron, lilies, hosta’s, two money trees and a hydrangea. The family bible and a pile of old family photos completed the visit as again, space is of a premium on the flight and certain family possessions can’t be just dumped. The plants have started to be redeployed in their new homes and should give some spectacular statement pieces, due to their size and be a reminder of a branch of the family.
I made the decision to put some steps down into the woods as the bank is a bit steep and dangerous for non mountain goat footed individuals. This has been spurred on by my side project of reclaiming the woods from brambles and other rubbish, especially after seeing an old photo on the web of a sunny green glade from a sales brochure from about 10 yrs ago. I got plenty of advice from our friend Dave and used the wood I’d purchased for the proposed decking last year. I stood, looked, measured, calculated and drew up a couple of options, then did it all again until it looked right. Then I put down a 7.2m side rail, measured and marked for the 8 steps, then realised I had one remaining. Divide by 9 not 8, and then all 8 steps are used – durr! Due to other events, I will have to wait a couple of weeks to get the grit delivered to finish the steps. However, it means that any weeds that start to grow can be dealt with before laying the weed suppressor and compacting the in-filled soil.
Spring has sprung, the weeds are riz, I wonder where the strimmer iz and while I’m at it, all the full body protection I forgot to put on last year. I got zapped again by some plant juice having forgotten all about the phytophotodermatitis from last years hogweed incident. I cleared an area of about 1m square to finish off the lawn edge and whether it spat up at me or I leant on freshly cut stalks, I don’t know; but here I am 48 hrs on and arm is burning and itching with nothing to be done. I must put labels on the strimmer warning self to cover up exposed skin while operating as the manufacturers don’t.
We have finally got a working conservatory back after many months of using it as a dump/temporary store/work space and just in time for the fine weather. The bamboo furniture will have a makeover when the weather warms up and I will sandblast the old paint off and repaint. I must say, Peters money tree looks perfect out there as a statement piece.
Very fast turnaround on my Blue Badge, only thing was they spelt my surname GARDENS!!! Ortokorekt is fine, but it still comes down to a human to check all iz korrect, especially on legal documents.
