Category Archives: Disaster

Tent

We bought a huge tent a couple of years ago, but found it impractical for use in an insect-ridden Cambridgeshire. So we rushed out to buy a smaller tent; a new one was needed anyway, since my old festival tend had been abandoned a couple of days earlier at Glastonbury. 

The new tent’s been great, but we also still had a large tent for use where insects don’t swarm. Which is why we brought it to Devon. Something a person can stand upright in must surely offer a better camping experience. 

On arrival, we set about erecting the non-insect-proof tent. It was quite windy, so the task wasn’t easy. And, unfortunately, my second in command managed to break two tent poles. The outcome was the tent being deposited in a bin. 

Fortunately, we had the foresight to bring the replacement festival tent as a contingency. Better still, while a person can’t exactly stand up inside the tent, it’s not exactly small. 

Our back-up tent, pictured with Daisy. 

A1

We’ve now been stuck at a standstill on the A1 for over two hours. 

The road’s been closed since late morning due to an accident. This isn’t my best weekend. 

Lost in France

Or, rather, Belgium. A fairly random decision led my second in command and I to Folkestone a few days ago. A day trip to Bruges was involved. A strike in France, with those taking industrial action driving up and down the motorway, resulted in a huge delay in our arrival in Bruges. And a shortened stay.

Fortunately, we found a very nice bar.

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Where we had some very nice, local, beer.

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Of course, such nice beer comes at a price. After missing our transport home, we explored options. A map was procured, from my second in command’s employer.

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They drew a route to the station for us. The station wasn’t the best idea though, since trains would only get us as far as Dunkirk. Fortunately, my eldest daughter found us a better solution, via Ostend, the following day.

Arrangements were made while we rested in another bar. We then found a random, but excellent, hotel.

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There are better pictures on my camera, but I’ve yet to extract them. Toothbrush and toothpaste were purchased (at a ridiculous price) and food sought. We then had some nice beer.

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Until my second in command needed to sleep. After which I found a nice local bar, where I had one or two nice beers.

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I soon left after the above hit me like a hammer, as warned by the barman. However, the lack of chemicals left me without a hangover the following morning. Which meant I was able to comprehend train times.

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Yes, that’s me taking a picture of a rail timetable. We arrived safely in Ostend and, after some wandering, found our rescue point. Fortunately, there are street maps in Ostend.

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And art. I’m adding this only because I liked it.

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Ostend also has nice bars.

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After a lengthy period of disinterest in travel, I’m now looking forward to our next excursion.

Perseverance and Gin

A great deal of fruitless time today was spent in attempting to bring our new Hannspree Micro PC back to life. Sadly, to no avail. I was unable either to boot from Linux or restore a Windows image I’d found on the Internet. But, after a couple of stiff Gins, I was inspired. At the point of giving up and putting it down to experience, I had something of a light bulb moment.

In short, we now have a fully working PC on a stick.

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It was a painful process, but the outcome was positive. In an awful Windows kind of way.

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My resolve is strong though; I shan’t abandon my aim to have a working version of Ubuntu on a pocket device. Apart from my phone, that is. I’d say more about that, but the Gin’s influence prevents me.

Broken stick

Yesterday afternoon, in view of the unusually nice weather, my second in command and I spent some time in Ouseburn; the Ship, the Cluny, then the Tyne Bar. We skipped the Free Trade Inn, since it was really busy and didn’t have any obviously fish-free beer.

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Followed by the Bridge Tavern, then, on returning home, the Traveller’s Rest. And then it was time to set up our new ‘computer’, a Hannspree PC on a stick. It’s small, around the size of the Android devices that’ve been around for a while now. It has 2gb memory and 32gb storage, although there’s a micro SD slot too. It manages to fit in a full size USB port and has both WiFi and Bluetooth. The quad core processor seems fast enough too.
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The device comes with Windows, unfortunately. There’s a Linux version (from Intel), but the spec’s not great. Getting it up and running was painless, even after a pint or two of beer.

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I bought the Windows version after reading about the potential to replace the OS with Ubuntu. Which I set about doing today. Sadly, I also managed to trash the device while installing Linux.

Fixed … and broken

I finally got around to replacing the broken bathroom light fitting, so our bathroom now has light again.

Unfortunately, it appears that, when something is fixed, something else must break. My second in command’s foot, for example.

She has a brand new cast on her foot and crutches.

Con

I’d not expected a Labour majority today, but the thought of another Conservative-led government is somewhat depressing.

At least common sense has prevailed in Gateshead.

Pi

I’ve just purchased a Raspberry Pi 2. I was perfectly happy with my Model B, but my exploding charger of a couple of weeks ago was plugged into the Pi at the time. I’d hoped that the SD card had been cooked rather than the Pi itself, but I’ve now found that the spare card isn’t working either. Which can mean only one thing.

Plumbing

After only ten years, the cold water tap in the bathroom washbasin is now working again. I tend to avoid plumbing, since I’ve had past disasters, but today I’ve successfully fitted new pipes, along with my first ever compression joints.

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