Author Archives: essiep

Tin Wifi booster.

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22C, soft breeze, sun.
Mid-summer’s day: a day of rest and fixing stuff about the house. Take time out with a cup of tea and watch YouTube. Found by chance, a video claiming to cleverly fix Wifi reception problems. image
I certainly do have patchy signal reception in this house. The idea is to partly cut open a drink tin and shape it round the aerial to focus the emitted signal from the router.

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I used a Wifi app on my phone to measure the result. The theory sounds likely, but I saw no change in any way.
There was a more measurable result when the phone is put inside the tin. Gain was about 6Db, and turning the tin changed the result too. Perhaps the signal from the router is polarized. The tin is curved in only one direction, it’s not like a satellite dish. This could be useful, if it worked, to get the best out of a mains powered booster, a repeater. That device relies on reception from the router, then re-transmit it at higher power. Trouble is, the connection between the devices does fail sometimes. So, repeater does not offer much reliability.
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Steam-punk.

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Rode fixed: Distance: 46.23mi, time: 02:50:29, pace: 3:41min/mi, speed: 16.27mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/608547833
Had quite a pacey ride today after a sluggish morning.

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This is a picture from a school trip last Tuesday. Birmingham museum has a range of Victorian, steam machines. Currently, this stuff is quite fashionable- steam-punk. The style appears in another graphics andgame design. Games like Bioshock make it a central feature. I have to admit, there is something appealing about the hand-made look of brass and iron components.
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29um,

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16C, no wind, feels warmer.
29miles fixed.
Back on the bike. it’s been a week since the last ride, and three weeks since that cold came on. That makes today’s ride a recovery one. They are characterised by a feeling of sluggishness. You have to push in an unnatural way.
Hay-fever is in full force. It must look like I am crying.
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The flats behind Churchtown in Southport. I like this area, big skies.

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General summary.

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2 days of warm sun, and now- thunder.
First DofE trip camping trip of the year. Sun is strong, and pollen dense. Day two was remote supervision, and for a change, there was a lot to do.

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Worcestershire is a very attractive county. Britain is in full bloom so fields are blazing yellow with buttercups and all the rest.
Young cattle were pleased to have visitors to their fields. They all came in our direction. A herd must weigh in over 10 tonnes, I was nervous. I turned to face them, hands on hips and in unison- they all did a u-turn. This gave my group of teenagers time to clamber over the stile.

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Bumbus nesting.

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21C, no wind, few slow clouds.
Rode 8speed, Distance: 32.91mi, time: 02:16:09, pace: 4:08min/mi, speed: 14.50mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/590941255
Another slow ride; I bet this feeling drags on for another week. The sun shone brightly though.

Meanwhile on the home front- my immediate neighbours warned me about a wasps’ nest in my roof. Today it became clear that they are not wasps but bees. White-tail bumble bees. I hope the summer works out well for them.
Last year, there was a similar nest. It was ousted by wasps though, which seemed a pity.
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Try a ride today.

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14°C, light showers later. No rides for over a week now. That cold turned into a bit of a chest infection. Typical After vast amounts of sleep, I will try to shift the remains of this cough with a short ride.

later: Rode Fixed-Distance: 19.27mi, time: 01:13:23, pace: 3:48min/mi, speed: 15.8mi/h. http://mapmyride.com/workout/582229249 image
Also, called in on Formby Cycles to oggle at the carbon racing bikes. There are quite a few at reduced prices that feel as though they weigh nothing. Be careful when you pick one up, they are so light you might fling them across the shop.

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Dislocated cold

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10-20C later. Sunny.
I have a cold in my ankle. It works like this: sticky throat and gravel voice, but the problem tendon flared up during the afternoon yesterday. I definitely have a fairly normal cold, but what is the link with limb joints? Are there similar membranes to those in the throat?

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Not the same this year.

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15C, sunny, wind has dropped.
Rode: 36 miles today. Things have changed this year. I ride more on work nights, but the usual surge of energy and enthusiasm has not taken over this time. Something has changed and I am feeling for what it may be.
Rosie leaving still seems the most likely reason. Annoyingly, I can’t be sure. The house feels wrong without a dog. There is no curious wet nose pressing at the gap as I open the door to come in. No-one to think of as I potter about the house, no daily visit to the local field. I don’t know how the juvenile oak tree getting on in the spring light.

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