Monthly Archives: Dec 2018

Cassandra Millar: Just So

Posted on by
Reply

CD from Another Timbre. Contemporary Music performed by a string ensemble. Unusually, I didn’t find this one via Hear And Now on BBC R3 but a mid-week show on the same station Late Junction.

The pieces that attracted me arenthe seriesnthat make up Warblework. The four sections that make up Warblework are developed from recordings of songbirds, specifically Thrushes. The tunes are very complex and somewhat atonal to my ear. The recordings in this set seem to have all the ingredients of music that will last for extended listening. It’s a feeling of a puzzle to solve.

You my listen to this and find yourself listening to birds in a new way. It’s a shame though that Thrushes are so rare in England now. They were quite common when I was a child. So common that they were one of the first birds I learnt to identify. Thrushes and sparrows are now quite scarce, especially the former. Much of the decline is attributed to slug pellets that gardeners use. Poisoned slugs poison the birds that feed on them. Not enough people know this. Dig a pond instead!

Angry in the letters page.

Posted on by
Reply

A letter to my local paper:

“Whilst I can sympathise with letter writer Michael Swann’s plea for cars (#1a) to consider cyclists when they are coming out of side roads, can I ask him and other cyclists to also take some responsibility when they are on the road?

Several issues spring to mind but my main frustration is the fact that extremely few cyclists have mirrors on their handlebars. Years ago, a cyclist would not think of going on the road without one on either side.

How else can you see when you are contemplating moving out? #2

The responsibility for taking care in is situation appears to rest solely on the shoulders of the car driver.

Another annoyance are those cyclists that ride on a main road when there are clearly marked cycle paths next to the road. This frequently happens on the coastal road travelling toward the Formby Bypass. #3

Can I also ask the many cyclists who go straight through red lights to please follow the Highway Code? It applies to you too! #4

Catherine Marland, Southport

________________

#1a: cars don’t think.

#1/ I am old enough to remember kids proudly riding Raleigh Choppers which actually did come with 2 handlebar mirrors. They were trying to look like motorbikes. Nobody else used mirrors on a bike, there was never a time when mirrors were the norm for cyclists.

Personally, I’d never trust the narrow view from such a tiny porthole that a bike mirror provides. I don’t use a mirror because I value my safety.

#2: For those few who don’t know, mirrors are rarely fitted because there is a far more effective method – look over your shoulder! I can’t tell why Catherine didn’t think of that.

Most of us have a neck with 12 vertebrae which is a biological feature that allows us to turn our heads.

#3 that particular track is very narrow and lumpy there is no passing space for incoming bikes. Imagine driving on a single-track lane but without any passing spaces!

#4 just like car drivers always do?

I never jump red lights but there are many who assume we all do. Those assumptions are wrong.

You specify cyclist who go straight through red lights; presumably you accept those who turn left on a red light (as done legally in the USA).

Metric century.

Posted on by
Reply

5~7°C, grey, dank and a S breeze

https://www.mapmyride.com/workout/328970721

Slow but long. 4h 40′ and the headlight lasted (though the orange warning light came on). Better still, the phone’s battery (a Motorola g6) ran down to 87%. My old phone (a Samsung S3) could run flat in less than 3 hours and I had to carry a booster at all times.

A good outing. Good figures and a good feeling afterwards. There was a time when a metric century was the normal for a Sunday ride.

Commute: moonlight, windswept and cold.

Posted on by
Reply

5°C, strong SE, dry and clear, moonlight

https://www.mapmyride.com/workout/3285512167

I love it, the blackness and a probing circle of light to ride into. Potholes and ripples in the tarmac are in sharp relief in the headlight. Either side, wet fields and distant streetlights. This is such a nice route. Nobody in sight and a light tailwind. I got home with hunger setting in and cold fingertips.

Was it a good ride?

Posted on by
5

…not really.

11°C, W wind with clear sky. Dry of course.

https://www.mapmyride.com/workout/3281311537
Broken valve.

Not the ride I wanted. The canal section was spoiled by a fishing competition and then a puncture. The self-sealing tubes failed to seal the leak. I blew the tyre up and rode as far as the pressure allowed and then inflated it again. Eventually the valve broke off inside the pump (see above). That stopped everything; no longer was there a possibility of swapping the tube or patching because there was no way to pump it up. The walk home was 2 miles. The sun shone.

Cross the chase, December.

Posted on by
Reply

11°C, sun and cold wind. Rain to finish.

https://www.mapmyride.com/workout/3280048873

Besides that, here’s an anecedote. The bike got quite muddy on this outing so normally I’d hose it down. Today, I have no access to a hose. Instead, I used a watering can and.poured it from height. Soon it stopped with a blockage. In the nozzle was a little face poking out.

The can was stored near the bins along with another one so I swapped them. The face was a field mouse that must have drowned. A sad and sorry end. Worse though, the other watering can also had a mouse’s corpse. I think we should store the cans inverted I told mum.

Towpath in darkness

Posted on by
Reply

8°C, clear sky with brisk W wind and cold.

https://www.mapmyride.com/workout/3279276373

Here’s a first, an off-road ride in the dark . The hard contrast from the light make ruts and pits easy to spot. Last night’s rain made the surface quite squelchy, that back wheel didn’t always follow the front. I did not fall.

It’s been a fun day. First thing, I visited a geology muse in Birmingham, The Lapworth Museum. This fossil as a cast, you can see that in close-up. Bits of white plaster show between the grey. I think the grey is graphite powder that was rubbed in.

Anyway, Lapworth us a well laid out museum with plenty of interesting exhibits. I highly recommend it. There is a rock wall made of samples and a key. I played the game of guessing and then looked up each type to make a score. I got about 1/3 correct. Clearly, I need to read up on peridotite.

DIY: Plumbing, a leaking radiator.

Posted on by
Reply

6°C, becoming greyer but still dry.

Much as I hate DIY plumbing, this one job has to be done. The kitchen radiator has left little puddles beneath when I get home. The system pressure would drop enough to shut down the boiler by the end of the the week.

After trying loosening and re-tightening the nuts on the valve for no improvement, I bought a replacement valve. This is a basic thermostatic valve and looked like the right size to fit onto the same nuts and olives.

Here is the old valve without the thermostat. Water leaked from the centre of the black top

Now that the heating system is a closed loop combi-boiler, draining didn’t take long.

The pipe looks scruffy but I can clean it up when I decorate. Perhaps Emery paper then varnish it to keep the copper colour.

Cost of repair? Just over £6.50. Boom!

At the same time, I have put together an emergency pipe repair kit: some pipe, compression joints, PTFE tape and a pipe cutter. Oh and a flexible pipe, that should be enough should the worst happen this winter.