Alarm bells

Yesterday I went online and saw that a local Supermarket named Lidl had some meat on offer. So off I went. I arrived early, it was great because hardly anyone was in the store. Mind you, there was not the selection of meat available. It was though, the last day the meat was on offer. I managed to get some legs of pork joints. I  bought a few other items and went to the checkout. I duly paid for my goods and picked up a couple of leaflets. Then the alarm went off. Well it was a screetching sound really. Anyway the man on the till asked me to go back to see him. He told me that it was to stop people from trying to go out of the store without paying and usually when it is put though the scanner the sensor was disabled but this time it had not happened. He took a couple of these things off and told me that if it went off again to just carry on walking.
 Sure enough it happened again. One woman who was near me told me that she had a similar thing happen to her.
 Later today I had a call from the man who was going to change my meter. In fact yesterday I also had a telephone call, this was an automated call reminding me that the engineer would be calling today.
 He was a very pleasant young man from the Lincoln area. He told me that the manufacturer was paying for all these meters to be changed as there was some fault with them. It was something to do with the display.
 We had a cup of coffee after and he told me he was married to a Brazillian woman and he had been to Brazil a couple of times. The whole operation took about 35 minutes so now I have a brand new meter, some are reconditioned but not this one, so he said.
 Tomorrow I plan to go to see my Sisters at Grantham so I hope the the weather will be kind to me. More soon.

New Potatoes

Nothing much has been happening lately but as one knows the weather has been dreadful lately.
 We here are lucky, yes we have had lots of rain but at least no flooding.
 The other morning it was dry so we had an overnight frost. In the polytunnel I had a few potatoes growing. I had obviously missed them early in the spring. Easy to do at my age. Anyway, the frost had caught the tops so I decided to dig them up to see if there were any potatoes on them. I was surprised because I managed to get enough for two meals. They scraped beautifully too. Mind you I don't go mad on new potatoes. They are nice as a treat but am glad when I can peel them and use them as a mature potato. I also managed to find a small sprig of mint, so all in all was satisfied with the outcome.
 Recently I noticed that my sitting room was getting all steamed up. I do have the central heating turned down on the radiator there. I never sit out there in the winter because it is always on the cool side. This time however I noticed that the radiator was not getting warm at all so I turned it on full, made no difference so I rung my mate up telling him that I thought it was the pump. I also went online and it said that if a radiator upstairs in a home started to keep cool then it was probably the pump. Anyway he will hopefully be here next week to fix the problem.
 On Wednesday afternoon I will be having my electricity meter changed. I had a call reminding me of the visit today. I then have plans to go to see my Sisters in Grantham on Thursday so this week is fairly busy for me.
 I als gave my FIT reading for my Solar on Thursday last week. Heaven alone knows what goes on at British Gas. My first years installation does not occur until December 10th. So I don't know exactly what I will have produced until that day. I was informed that I should phone in or e-mail my reading every 3 months. So much for every 3 months. More soon.

Back to normal

Back to November weather. Today has been a very very dull day with early rain, not what the local weatherman forecast but it's what we got.
 Yesterday I saw the young man who has had solar panels fitted. I asked him if he had everything sorted. He told me he had just turned on the computer and was going to scan the details to E-on who I presume is his electricity provider.
 They have night storage heaters installed, they were there when they moved in and of course they are very expensive to run. They also have 3 phase electricity. This was installed by the builder who originally planned to live in the property but finances forced him to sell the property. I was lucky because someone told me that his hobby was to tune up noisy cars in his double garage, that is why he wanted 3 phase as he would be using plenty of electricity.
 Anyway the guy next door has a 5kw. system fitted, well he thinks that is what it is. He is still waiting for the papers to confirm what he has actually got.
 One thing that is still there is the scaffolding. It has been at his home for a week and when I enquired just how long it was going to be there, the answer was that hopefully by next week it should be removed. I just remarked that the scaffolding work must be a little slack  for the lot to be left there for well over a week. Normally it is taken down as soon as there is no more need for the scaffolding.
 I hope that he has registered so that he can start producing electricity. According to my mate, he should get around 16 pence per kw for the first 16 kw. Thereafter the tariff reduces to around 10p per kw for the remainder he produces each day. They have relaxed some of the rules but tightened on others. The guarantee is now for 20 years where it used to be 25. The exported electricity has also been altered, now it is around 4.3p where it used to be 3.2p. Still he has a useful system and he should save a little on his annual consumption of electricity. Mind you not on today's production. I produced almost zero. Still better days will be here again. Not for the next couple of months though for me, but I am happy at what I have produced and that is the main thing. More soon.

Better day

Contrary to all the weathermen, today turned out to be a far better day than anyone expected. Yesterday was sunny in London so it was thought that everyone had a nice day. Here was a dreadfully dull dank dreary November day although it was not cold.
  The big house next door has these last few days been a hive of activity. First scaffolding was erected on Monday and the vehicle which bought the scaffolding had on it advertising PVC stuff  Conservatories and such, I naturally thought they were having soffits and facia boards fitted because it is rather hard to paint them. I was completely wrong. I saw the youg man in the garden so I asked him whether he was having PVC fitted. He told me that he was having Solar Panels fitted and as he had just sold his old property he could not afford to have them fitted before but assured me that he had beaten the latest deadline for the tarriff the Government pays. There are 20 panels in all and although he had not got all the information yet as soon as he had he would let me know. Yesterday the fitters came and fitted the Solar Panels but I haven't seen him to enquire as to if the system is up and running. I hope so because he would have produced a few kilowatts of electricity.
 As for me, being in the situation I am, almost blocked out by their big house I can not produce 2 kilowatts but I knew this and to be honest I am very happy at what I have produced this year. It will improve once again in the spring.
 My year ends at the end of the month. Well not exactly as it was the 12th. December when I started to produce electricity but British Gas, they are the Company who I chose to pay me for me electricity, sent me e-mails a little earlier these last 2 quarters. I presume that was because there was a huge influx of applications to get registered before the deadline of December last year. Now my final quarter ends on 30th November but I will not have had the system in for a year but that will make no difference. It is that I will go now from December 1st to the end of February, March until the end of May. June till the end of August and September to the end of November. These next 3 months will be very poor for me but as I have said, I am pleased at what I have produced.
 Now finally to the little teaser.
 "The quick brown Fox jumped over the lazy Dogs."
 I am assured that the sentance although not  absolutely grammatically correct has every letter in the alphabet  in it. A little bit of useless information.
  More soon.

Nostalgia

I was watching a programme on Satellite T.V. It is called PBS America. It isn't a popular channel but sometimes has something of interest. Well to me anyway.
 This programme was about Funfairs in the USA. Old fashioned ones that is.
 They are all static funfairs therefore can have the old fashioned big dippers. Also though were rides that I could recall when I was just a youngster. Moonrocket to name one.
 We had at Grantham what was called Mid-Lent Fair. It was as it said is held in  the middle of Lent so sometimes it would be held in early March. I have been there when it has snowed. However I digress.
 The fair would arrive late Saturday night then it was all hands to the helm. The workmen worked like trojans all Sunday erecting everything from the Steam Boats to the local stalls. On Monday the fair was officially opened on Monday at Noon by the Mayor who traditionally had a ride on the dodgems. On Wednesday evening after the fair was closed, dismantling started and by Thursday evening everything had gone.
 Back to the nostalgia. Besides the moonrocket there was the whip. a sort of waltzer but they were individual contraptions on level ground. You could brake the speed to make it whip round. I'm not very good at explaining things. Moonrocket was the fastest ride of the whole fair, closely followed by Noah's Ark. Whereas Noah's Ark was an undulating ride Moonrocket was always built on an angle so was tilted at an angle of about 15 degrees. Popeye was going anticlockwise at a gentle speed of about 15mph and when the speed  of the ride reached it's climax, in the evening the lights would be turned off for a few seconds. Scary at the time but very tame for the kids of today. One year the caterpillar came, this was on the PBS, it was that that reminded me of some of the rides. The caterpillar was a level roundabout, not going at huge speeds but as it went round a canvas hood came over and covered the whole ride. Hence the caterpillar. I only ever saw it once, I guess it was too tame in those days to generate some excitement. It must have been some to years ago since I saw that ride. What memories.
 There was a Noah's Ark on some of the funfairs  and they seemed to be very popular with the general public.
 I guess that the film was taken a few years ago, unfortunately I didn't catch the year. Sky 166 is the place to find the programme.
 Here is a little teaser.
 "The quick brown Fox jumped over the lazy Dogs".
 Answer the next time.  More soon.

More Insurance news

This morning I went online just to see if I had received any mail. To be honest it is rare for me to get much mail.
 This morning I did receive mail and whilst I was reading it I noticed an advert for Moneysupermarket for Motor Insurance.
 Last year late they sent me a quote which was about the same I as had paid. Well I decided to give it a go. As they held my details I didn't have to fill everything again. Eventually I received several quotes, all very reasonable. I noticed that one quote was from the Company that I am insured with. Whilst I was perusing the prices I heard the letterbox go so went to check mail. True to form, all mail was from Insurance Companies including my Insurer. I opened the envelope with some relish expecting a reasonable price. To my horror, the quote was for over £50 higher than the offer I had been given on the web. Well there is a freephone number so I called them.
 What a palaver, I don't know how many options there are but eventually I managed to talk to a representative. He also asked several questions then we got to business. I asked him why my renewal was for over £200 when I had been offered on the web a deal   saving over £50. He then asked me if I could retrieve it. I told him it would take a few minutes as I had to turn on my computer. After a minute or so I managed to access my mail. I read the offer out to him. He then asked me to go and save the offer. I queeried this and he then said that this would go back to their office but it would take about 2 hours. I asked if he could call me back and verify the offer had been received but he informed me that he was not allowed to call out but if he was not busy he would ring me.
 About 2 hours later I once again turned on the computer opened my mail because I had  an unread mail in my box.
 It was from my Insurer stating that although I had NOT saved the offer they would resubmit the offer to me.
 Once again I was on the phone, that's right. Going through the same tedious routine. A different guy this time. I explained all what had happened. He then told me that they had indeed received my saved offer. I asked him what was to happen. He told me that if things were the same they would match the web offer but would have to transfer me to another department. That was fine to me for it was costing me nothing.
 I didn't have to wait long but once again questions. Eventually he told me that according to what he could see, nothing different was offered to what was being offered with my renewal so they would match the offer on the web. The bonus was that because I had bought it, well would have done, I would get a courtesy car for 14 days if I had an accident free of any extra cost. Well worth the hassle so anyway I paid there and then. Now I wait for replacement documents. More soon.

Insurance

I was just about to have my mid day meal when the phone rang. It was an Insurance Company, they had me on their books from last year. Ohdear he went on and on for ages. Eventually I told him to hurry up as my dinner was ready. When he gave me the quote, all I told him was that he wasn't on the same planet' said goodbye and put the phone down. The quote which I received was £100 more than the cheapest quote I had on the Internet. I did tell him before I would not be accepting any deal as I hadn't had my quote from my current Insurer.
  This morning I went and picked up a few more leaves, this year there seems to be more than ever. I did manage to dig in the leaves into where next year my runner beans will be so that is a job well done. The ground however is very very wet. Normally just now the ground is just beginning to get a little heavy. Let us hope that we don't get too much rain during the next couple of months.
 Yesterday, when I went to see a friend who first asked me if I was a footplate man. This was because I was wearing my old Railway overalls. Anyway I was telling him I would soon be looking for another fridge freezer. He tols me to find a young man called ****. I found him easily and explained to him what I was looking for. A fridge freezer with lots of freezer space and not so much fridge space. He told me he would look out for me.
 When I got home I decided to go online to check prices. I was somewhat surprised as the prices start at around £250 and those are not suitable. Over £300 is at the bottom end, near £400 is more like a decent price. Anyway I will just sit tight and see what happens.
 More soon.

Getting ready for winter

Over the last few days I have been getting ready for the winter months.
 On November 2nd. I had my last meal of runner beans. Not bad considering I had my first meal on July 15th. Well over 3 months of runner beans. To be honest, for many days I have had 2 meals of runner beans as they have lots of iron and because of some of my medication I am low in iron.
  Today I dug in some leaves where next year I will be setting my runner beans. The ground was too wet really to do this job but I managed to do one side. By the way, I have this year set a couple of plants in my polytunnel and also 2 plants are in pots in my greenhouse.  These are what I dug up. They were this years producing plants so I hope they will be alright.It was my Italian friend who told me that they could be kept over winter if protected from frosts. I will of course also set some seeds in late April just in case the frosts kill the plants.
 From now on until next spring I will have to do with what I have in my polytunnel and a few leeks outside. Mind you those leeks are very poor. I do have plenty of carrots, a few cabbages also the odd cauliflower so I guess I will be buying some vegetables soon after Christmas.
 My central heating has been on regular these last few days, here it has been cold also wet and generally dull. Today we did see a fair amount of sun though. Still got the odd shower to remind us that winter is approaching. Getting dark early now, will only get wiorse for the next 6 weeks.
 Bonfire night went off as usual with little or no fireworks. I guess I heard about 6 bangers and didn't see a rocket or anthing like that. I know that tonight is bonfire night. Will let you know if there is any firewoks. There is a house a few doors away with children. More soon.

Visiting

As it was a nice day I decided to call my Italian friend to see if he would be in the home if I called a little later. He assured me he would so I arranged to see him around 9.00am.
 I arrived just after 9.00am and was welcomed as usual. I did take a yellow rose cutting which has a wonderful scent, this was mainly for his wife as she has not been too good lately.
 I was taken outside the rear and shown the patio that his wife had ordered and bought. It certainly looked very nice indeed and improved the rear an awful lot. She can now hang out the washing without wondering if her shoes would have mud on them. He also showed me the Solar Panels. 16 in all and he told me that this was a 3.5kilowatt system. I think it is probably a 4 kilowatt system although it does not affect him as he only gets the free electricity that the system produces.
 We went indoors and after giving me a coffee, I asked them to show me the controls. He only has the meter which tells him if he is not being charged for the electricity he is using. There is a constant red light on all meters if there is no electricity being used. I then told both to use electrical appliances if possible when the sun was shining and the system was producing electricity. I told them that it would be wise to buy an oil filled radiator as this could be used instead of a gas fire reminding them that they must check to see that the red light would be constant and during the winter months that would almost certainly not be possible for many of the winter days. However in late February and March when it was clod the oil filled radiator would serve it's purpose well. I also suggested that they purchase a George Foreman grill or something similar. His wife has always wanted him to have one. Whether he will get one is debateable. I did remind him that what the system was producing would automatically go to the National Grid and it was not possible for him to save electricity for later. He then showed me everything and sure enough the light was constantly on. What he said then made me realise he hadn't grasped the situation completely. He told me that sometimes he would get up in the night go and look at the meter and see it was flashing. I told him that of course he would not be producing any electricity at all when the sun went down and there were appliances that would be working such as a fridge and freezer. I asked him if he left his T.V. on standby. He confirmed he did. I then asked him if it was an LCD or LED Television. He got his book out and told me what I had expected, it was an LCD. I told him he MUST get into the routine of switching the T.V. off at the mains at the end of the day as the set on standby would be using about 70watts per hour. Probably more if I am honest but at least he did seem to take notice.
 TheT.V. was on, as it always is when I visit them. Always Italian as he has a Satellite dish that is tuned to Italian T.V. His wife is not interested at all and told me that an oil filled radiator would suit her fine as she goes into another room to watch Television. No wonder she is rather poorly. It is her nerves and she is on several drugs. In fact she was going to see the Doctor later this morning.
 I finally told her to come to see me, she always feels better for seeing me, well I presume that would be the same with any caller. Still I hope She will get to see me with her Husband before Christmas. More soon.