24°C
Soft, cool milky mist early today, soon burnt off by the hot sun. Why can’t this weather be backdated to that wet week in Wales of August last?
Hot autumn
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Forecasting the weather reports
16°C, expect the unexpected.
Weather fronts moving up from the south will bring periods of uncertainty to areas of the Midlands. Locally, there could be patches of wild guessing amid spots of general accuracy. As the day wears on, expect some improvement overall but what actually happens remains open under the darkest clouds. The outlook for the week is of some days of normality ans some unseasonal accuracy too. Early reports from listeners in the far west indicate that a butterfly has flapped its wings, we will keep you informed on any developments on this channel during the coming week.
Sunday morning rain.
14°C, rain. CR:?
It would be dry if I'd left it in the house
Sunday is cyclingday, so I wake to rain and a washingline full of wet clothes. I face a grim choice: finish the last bit of painting in the attic, or attack the pile of marking while I wait for the clouds to lift. It’s a tough life.
mortgage
10°C, and rising
That cold never did materialise, I felt fine the next day. I’m off soon to switch mortgage, my fixed term runs out next month and it reverts to a tracker, but interest rates are so low I should get a new fixed rate term to hold it low for years.
It’s a strange thing to shop for- nothing like choosing a TV or Hifi. There is none of the materialistic glee from a new feature in your home. A re-mortgage will give you a huge saving in about 18 years. Nothing you can reach out and touch then. It’s even worse than paying out for a big repair. The car is the worst for this, you have your card swiped for £300 and drive the car home, feeling the same as before. It’s no wonder that few shoppers jump ship to another energy provider/mortgage/phone company. The root of the problem is that it’s all so boring.
Anyway, no decisions yet, but the main contenders are fixed rate for 5 years, tracker for 2 then onto fixed, or variations on those (18 or 15 years). I’m playing with a spreadsheet to find the one. Open Office Calc works well.
It’s warm enough for shorts now.
Guilty!
16°C, Dry. CA:20 miles
The fault lies here. Posted for your peace of mind and a sense of completeness.
The heat(ing) is on
17°C, Dry, light cloud
The innocent fan. Blame the circuit board!
He’s done it, the water boiler works now. The fan was not guilty all along, it was the circuit board causing trouble. By the look of it, the board is just a set of relays & an IC chip to control the front LEDs. Perhaps a relay failed, it does tend to be a mechanical failure more often, relays physically throw a switch rather than some transistor method. You can hear them click inside.
New colds’ season
16C, light clouds, but…
It’s coming: a new cold, it’s now cold outside, but I’m not warm inside.
And it’s got nothing to do with my home heating not working. The boiler won’t light, but the repair man is dealing with that one. The timing couldn’t be better, it’s normally another month before I put the heating on in this house.
Silly cows
16°C, towering cumulonimbus- they missed me, just. CR:48 miles
Late ride today, with only limited time before sunset at 19.15, so you want to freesteady miles, unimpeded by traffic, then this happens- it’s milking time. Those ladies weren’t in a hurry, many stopped at that big puddle on the right to drink, others just toddled off on their daily routine.
Blimey, those ladies looked full.
Dirty data
Surveys and data analysis can sometimes be sullied by dirty data.
“It’s not what you think girls”, but actually- what do they think it is? Why do they snigger, these 13 year olds? It’s not as if they expect to open a spreadsheet and find the number 69!
Strap on your bag and ride into dusk
17C, lighter WSW wind, CA:45 miles
Extended my ride home tonight. Up the High Street of desolation that is Brownhills, straight on, along a canal tow-path and then onto Cannock Chase. Eventually clocked up 45 miles arriving home in fading light. I shalln’t do this for much longer, though it’s done the job of making up for tomorrow’s drive. Not looking forward to open evening- it makes for such a long day.
Micycle 