KIA-ORA

Saw my first Chinese electric car a few days ago.

It's an ORA. At first I thought it was a variant of a KIA. Get it Kia-Ora? Oh, nevermind. 

Ahem!

We've had a problem with our underfloor heating installation - it has been turning itself off with alarming regularity.

Hay contacted a company and the boss came round to give an assessment of the problem - he turned up in a top of the range Porsche Cayenne. 

Anyway, I let him into our Engine Room to have a butchers and wanted to latch the door back so it wouldn't blow in the wind - but couldn't.

Some bright spark (aka Hay) had pinned the hinged end upside down so it wouldn't latch...

Anyway, the problem with the ASHP was a blocked filter in the water circuit, which was causing a pressure trip and consequent shutdown. He also pointed out some enhancements that would prevent future problems.

The guy certainly knew what he was talking about and, as an aside, reckoned he could do us a battery system, panels and all the switching gear to divert anything over the 4kW capacity we're limited to on the feed in, for the handsome price of £4k, which isn't bad and would come in handy for charging an electric car.

25% off

Just a quick note about yesterday's visit by OutReach to fix my father-in-law's phone line yesterday. We ended up with a phone line in his house, as well as his internet working. Our internet kept working. However, my father-in-law ended up with our phone number. I despair!

I nipped into Tesco yesterday to see whether they had the monthly 25% off deal on wines - and they did. It was the last day, so I took advantage of it.

25% off 6 bottles or more, limited to 36 bottles so, naturally, I maxed out and staggered to the car under the weight. However, I didn't save as much as I'd anticipated, as Tesco, in their wisdom, had pushed the price of my favourite tipple up to £8 a bottle. Cunning. Nevertheless, I saved £72.

Tesco have this promotion roughly once a month from a Thursday to the following Monday, but you don't know which week it will be, so you have to be on your toes.

The Other House

For a couple of months we've been suffering from a very slow internet speed - around 5mbps download as against the 27mbps we should be getting. The week before last it decided to die completely.

Until an engineer could get out to us, Vodafone gave me unlimited data for a month on my phone, which was all well and good while I was in the house and everyone was using my hotspot, but useless when I was out.

Anyway, the engineer duly attended and discovered that Outreach, while doing some work on the cabinet in the street a while ago, had connected us to the internet for the wrong house - one 300m further toward the epicentre of Old Sodbury.

We're now seeing 40mbps and are forecast to get fibre in 2026, which will be simple to implement, as our service comes through overhead lines and not underground cables.

However, we've since discovered that Hay's dad, next door, has lost his internet and phone connection. Vodafone maintain his router is up and running, even when I unplug it. Someone has made a right mess of the local connections, and I think the responsibility lies with OutReach. The engineer is due today - I just hope that once it's fixed we're not back to zero.

Microwave

As my regular reader will know, I'm a dedicated devotee of Facebook Market.

I was perusing whatever is available in my area and came across the following:

  

It's a wooden microwave made from pallets - and it has a working timer. Brilliant! It's actually made for kids, as you may guess, but what a fantastic talking point for your kitchen. Only £40 too.

I also found an E-Type body shell for £4k in a rather dilapidated condition, but not beyond restoration. 

Unfortunately I don't have £4k to spend on a project that will take a very, very long time - not when I'm rebuilding a poor man's E-Type, namely the GT6.

Paint

I want to paint the rear bumper of Hay's red Hyundai i10 with Hyundai Electric Red.

I visited a local car parts and tool emporium on our High Street, knowing in advance that they stock Holts spray paints, but I know from previous experience that it's almost impossible to match up their colours with known paint codes. Holts, for some reason, use their own nomenclature for paint colours, unlike Hycote, who use manufacturers' paint names and codes.

The shop owner does have a folder that lists manufacturer codes and suggests Holts paints that match, but when you go into a shop for a can of paint you don't want to be searching through a database, not that there's any colour amongst the myriad Holts reds that matches Electric Red anyway.

You'd think this would affect sales and they'd react accordingly, but no, and I can't understand why. Anyway, I went to another emporium in Yate that stocks Hycote paints and got what I wanted within 6 seconds - however, I wanted 2 cans and they only had 1.....

According to Chat GPT: 

"Holts does not use manufacturers' paint codes directly on their spray cans because their system, known as Paint Match Pro, is designed to simplify the colour matching process for consumers. Instead of relying on specific manufacturer codes, which can vary widely, Holts uses a proprietary matching system. This allows them to offer a broader selection of colours without needing to replicate each car manufacturer's exact coding system.

"The primary reason for this approach is to make the process user-friendly. Manufacturer codes can sometimes be confusing or difficult to locate on vehicles, so Holts simplifies this by focusing on colour match accuracy rather than the use of manufacturer-specific codes. Holts ensures that their system provides a high level of accuracy in matching colours through a large database of over 6,000 paints. This system is aimed at both professionals and DIY users, making it easier to find the right colour without needing specialised knowledge about codes."

Well, it doesn't. If you have a piece of car with you, I dare say the MkI eyeball could come up with a match, but I'd rather have the exact colour, rather than an approximation.

Nationalism

Nationality stems from the basic human need to protect and secure resources. When groups of people - whether by tribe, region, or later by country - compete for land, food, or wealth, they tend to form a collective identity. 

It’s a natural thing, really. People rally around something bigger than themselves for survival and progress. But the game changes when the focus shifts from securing those resources to simply holding onto power for its own sake.

 

That’s when things start to get worrying. When power becomes the goal, rather than a means to improve lives or distribute resources fairly, it leads to exclusion, oppression, and often conflict. Nationalism, which might have started as a way to unify and protect, turns into a tool of division and control. It’s no longer about “us versus the threat,” but more about “us versus anyone not like us”—and that’s where trouble brews.

So, it’s important to keep an eye on when healthy competition for resources morphs into something more dangerous. Power for power’s sake usually ends up hurting everyone in the long run. The key is balance: competition, yes, but also cooperation. Otherwise, the lines between protection and aggression blur, and history has shown us where that road can lead.

Which brings us to the debacle which is the Tory leadership election and the lurch to the right to chase Reform Ltd. Rather than going for just the lettuce, they seem ti be going for the full salad and it will bite them in the bum. Whichever of the two remaining candidates is chosen, Labour MPs are going to have to register that person as a gift in the Register of Members' Financial Interests. 

Growing Old Disgracefully

Last week I decided to have one more tattoo - a badger, it being Hay's nickname for me, and so very personal and meaningful. I'm stopping it from scabbing over by using coconut oil during the day, which has a mild antiseptic quality, and Savlon in the evenings. It has scabbed slightly, which was only to be expected, but they will disappear within a few days.

I was originally going to have the white tattooed as white, rather than just heaving it as skin colour, but the edges would have been rather stark and white tends to yellow with time. The eye, however, was picked out in white for added emphasis.

The options I compiled to choose from were as follows:

I quite liked the final one, but Hay persuaded me to go for the one I ended up with. The Bad Badger with the guns is the emblem we have on the side of the motorhome and would have been more apt, but Hay thinks it's too Gangsta.

Hay's under instruction to make a nice lampshade from my tattoos when I kick the bucket. Well, perhaps not a nice one, but perhaps an interesting one.

Looming

The Mercedes 500SL loom arrived from Germany yesterday. I had to pay £122 customs fee - thanks Brexit!

Worth it though to get the 500SL back on the road.

Yessonata

I preordered a copy of Rick Wakeman's Yessonata on vinyl, believing it was the only medium on which it would be released as a limited edition; however, I have since discovered that there will be a CD release in November due to high demand.

That works well for me, as I won't need to open the plastic cover on the vinyl record and retain its value to future collectors.

I'm a fan of Yes and Rick Wakeman, as you've probably gathered, not to mention Roger Dean who did some incredible art for the Yes albums, as well as Osibisa, Asia, Budgie and a few other bands.

The composition is a solo piano adaptation that Wakeman performed during his Final One Man Solo Tour. It's a solo piano composition deeply rooted in both classical and progressive rock traditions. The piece blends classical sonata structure with progressive rock elements, reflecting Wakeman's virtuosic keyboard style. It contains over 30 fragments of themes from various Yes songs, which Wakeman was involved with during his time in the band. These themes are woven into a cohesive medley, creating a grand and intricate work.