Discount Hunting

I have been watching out for extra discounts past the boxing day and waiting for the January sale, but it doesn't appear to be any more discount.  Some discount has disappeared between boxing day and now.  I will wait out a little longer and finalise my purchases in the new year!

Museum of Climate Change

There were lots of poster boards about the Museum of Climate Change on the commuter train, so I paid a visit.  At first, I thought I would finish it in 15 minutes, but as it turns out, there were loads of interactive activities, loads of educational cartoon, eg Low Carbon Mcdull, which was lots of fun.  Highly recommended.

Cost Breakdown

Peter pointed out that rent is sky high and making the overhead cost extortionate, which explains why everything is so expensive.

Different (Cost) Prospectives

My sister said, "everything is so cheap here."  And I say, "everything is so expensive!"

Tennis Inferno

I was melting as I played tennis.  This is meant to be winter!  The poor air quality did not help.

Multi-lingual Rudeness

My sister thinks it is acceptable speak in a language whereby not all audience can understand, for the reason to talk behind them in front of them, very rude indeed.

Holiday Gathering

We went to our friend's for a Christmas party.  It was a 'big eat party' and we played old fashion games like Jenga and Big 2.  Such fun.

Family Grind

In a way, family is similar to the endless grind at work except most people see family more.  Endless, grind.  When can I hole up?!

Holiday Relamping

Property management is very much like computer maintenance, there is always something to do, and there is always someone wanted something doing.  I ended up relamping most of the flat!

Seaweed Dishwater

My sister was struggling to make food the kids will eat, and said they do not eat seaweed.  I took the opportunity of winter solstice to make a simple seaweed soup.  It went down well.

Recycling Incentive

I took down an old pile of paperwork and I was rewarded for some money. Enough for a can of coke.  Next time I shall bring my recycling here!

Now I think about it. I shall recycle all my old letters rather than burning them!

Unleashed Past

On an unseasonable day, I broke into my drawer and released the past.  Scary!  I should burn them, without looking at them one last time.  I cringed at every glance, every touch made my heart skip a beat, in a mortal and disgusting way.  I should have worn gloves!!!

Car Yoga

On the Why factor, it mentions car yoga.  Classic FM is my car yoga.

European Strike Season

Let's hope I can manage to avoid all the fall out of this European strike season.

Pre-Christmas Lull

Pre-Christmas office lull, everyone is so unmotivated.  Why?

Awesome Shredder

I got a Leeds Freegle shredder, it is a cross shred and works brilliantly.  This is the best shredder I ever got!

Chestnut Time

I have become a chestnut fan.  And as the winter comes, it is chestnuts time!  Gourmet Merchant is going ready to eat chestnut, and when it is on offer, it is cheaper than fresh chestnuts, no brainer!

Disabling Headache

I don't get headaches much, and I swear by Saridon.  I had a sharp disabling headache yesterday, I wish I had my pills with me.  Maybe as I get older, I should keep my medicine box on standby!

New Parking Slots

I found our new favourite parking spot, on the south side of the train station.  Free on Sunday, cheap on Saturday!

Sucky Vacuum

My vacuum suction has been dropping until it was completely clogged.  I cracked open the filter compartment and was shocked how choked it was.  I cleaned and washed the filter.  Now the vacuum is extra sucky!  I must keep on top of the cleaning procedure!

Gluttonous Carnivorous Weekend

Christmas do, Groupon deal.  One big gluttonous, carnivorous weekend!

Red's True BBQ

We went to Red's for Christmas do on everyone's recommendation.  Even Ruth the vegetarian had heard of Red's being good.  It is acceptable.

Charity Shop DVDs

We popped in the local Sue Ryder for a walk around.  I came away with 5 DVDs.  The assistant mentioned how I missed out a buy one get one free deal!  Sarah also came away with good children's books.  Great result, we should walk around it more often.

School Dinners

The training centre has a canteen.  Now I fully understand what kind of "school dinners" the British experience when they were growing up, quite horrid!

Telecommunication Companies are All Crows

All crows are black.  They are all determined to make our life difficult to setup what we want.  It is a modern pain that we much endure.

City Exploring Gone Wrong

Tired, hungry, lost in a strange city, with no juice on phone, all I had was a vague direction.  I asked for direction from a shop, and the shop owner's broken English was not very helpful.

I was contemplating taking a bus and a taxi!

Glutinous Rice Recipes

I fancied some glutinous rice winter dish, and there isn't very many.  Southeast Asians use them as normal rice, but we don't.

I made some coconut rice with the curry.  Then I made some steamed rice parcel with grease proof paper instead of lotus leave.  I think I will attempt that again with a foil container.

Useless Jumper Pack

When I used an American branded jumper pack on Endee, it worked well.  Then I got this for Little Rome from England.  Absolutely useless, useless on Kendrew, useless on Little Rome.  The only thing it was good for was the compressor, and even that fails rather quickly.  Now that I have a second vehicle, I will always live jump each other.

Funny Green Tea

I got this very tasty green tea from my Taiwanese friend.  It is very good, besides it disagrees with my body.  I am not sure what causes the discomfort, caffeine or other flavonoid, but I am often lightheaded as soon as I start drinking them.  Maybe I should pass it onto someone else.

Fundamentalist Atheist

Jimmy Carr said he is becoming fundamentalist atheist.  What a great denomination of Atheist!  Too bad I don't believe in propagating any religion, nor any organised religion, otherwise it will be my denomination.

Short December

This December, I have 7 working days, 5 training days only. Counting down!

Old Fashion Engineering

I have been flipping through catalogue of flange to find a suitable blanks for our calorifier. There are so many different components in a mechanical system, each with many international standards. This is what differentiate mechanical with all the other disciplines, mechanical engineers make real thing in 3 dimensions and if it doesn't fit, it doesn't fit.

Homemade Kedgeree

I was looking for ways to eat up the smoked mackerel.  I decided to try to make kedgeree.  It turned out okay.  I find curry powder has a very non-descriptive flavour.  Maybe I shall make my own curry powder mix.

"Optional" Service Charge

When "Optional" is not optional.  It is very annoying.

Poor Dentistry

The longer I live in the UK, the more poor dentistry I observe.  Why would the dentist here pull out all the premolars when putting the braces on, when refuse to remove the breached wisdom teeth?  All the hard work of straightening the teeth with the braces is destroyed by the wisdom teeth pushing forward.  And apparently it is acceptable for the wisdom teeth to be sideway, whereas it does not serve a purpose as a molar but extra crevices for bacteria.  Absolutely nonsense.

Christmas Shopping

Ever since the British imported the Black Friday idea, this has become a big Christmas shopping push.  My inbox is full of marketing emails.  Most of them are headline catching, and a few of them actually got my attention.  I got a push by my credit card company with bonus, now I am spurred on.  Afterall, this is what Christmas is all about, consumerism.

Real Road Incident

As a cyclist, I have had my mishaps.  When I started driving, I can see a different prospective.


When I was driving to work, a cyclist wiped out at the roundabout when me and another car already entered the roundabout before he cleared off.  We both slammed the brakes and waited.


Scary.

Ring of Fire

Earthquake everywhere.  Does this mean it is a beginning of more earthquakes along of the ring of fire or does this mean all shifts released and wait for next substantial movements?  Meanwhile, let steers clear of the ring of fire.

Marketing Trap

It is the shopping season, and it is possible find the market's bottom, ie the discount comes at a various shape and sizes and it is not possible to get the best bargain all the time.  I feel defeated!

Captain Fantastic

I was told this was a black comedy, even IMDB seems to think it is a "comedy".  It is not particularly amusing, it is not particularly black, it is definitely typical Hollywood, ie white privilege.  There was no boat, and not fantastic.  I am mis-sold thorough and thorough.






It may have some relevance in the real life, ie they live in an isolated echo chamber, their ideology was extremist and mis-guided.


In hindsight, with its Pacific Northwest forrest, with pale looking characters, crazy lifestyles, it is just like Twilight.

Early Manchester Christmas Market

We went to Manchester for the Christmas Market.  We had buffet for lunch, so I was very full to fit any sausages.  The weather was dry, and it was a bonus.  As it is only November, it was not too busy.

Whilst everyone was chit chatting, I strolled thorough every bit of the Christmas market, including the Affleck pop-up.  There were some student musicians busking with flutes and cellos!  They now also filled out the courtyard outside John Rylands.

I was tempted by a few European things, but since I wouldn't be consuming them anytime soon, I successfully resisted from buying.  I ended up walking a lot, I hope I have walked off some of my buffet intake!

Harrogate Christmas Market

We went to Harrogate Christmas Market.  It is only November, but their market only opens for one weekend.  Unlike other towns and cities, their market is on a patch of green.  It turned out to be very muddy!  It is a fairly small market, but there are more local traders with interesting offerings, such as candle powered steam boats.  They also have main stream offerings like reindeer.

There were coaches full of people coming in and out of the market!

We were going to have a lunch at a pub, but it was very busy, and we ended up in the Truffles Cafe.  Their service was friendly and food was very nice.  I had a vanilla slice.  Sarah is convinced the vanilla is made off-site.

We had a walk around the park then settled at the Palm Court Cafe.  It was also packed.  I had no room for cake, so I opted for a hot chocolate.  Sarah has a Chocolate Orange, and Tony had a Mocha Blonde.  They were quite good.  I am looking forward to their cakes.

"On Track"

When someone give you a vague answer of being "on track", we really need to ask which track are they following, and if the track is leading to disaster.

Slim DVD Player

The old DVD player has been temperamental.  We finally got a new one.  The new DVD players are so much smaller than older DVD players!

Belvita Breakfast Crunchy Chocolate

Evil.

Adventure Gone Wrong

The tourists are getting into real danger.  There are reason why there was warning signs and life waiver.  Some might say, Natural Selection.

Dew Point

Whilst I was clicking around on the Dew Point Calculator, I realised why some AHUs cannot use a cooling coil for dehumidification, when the dew point for the condition is below the cooling coil temperature.  Learn something new everyday.

Lichfield Delights

We took the opportunity to visit Lichfield 'City' while we were near Birmingham.  The nice weather was a bonus.

Lichfield Cathedral is one of the most important English Christian church.  It is very ornate, very well kept.  In their Chapter House, they were also showing Staffordshire Hoard.

Then we stopped at Erasmus Darwin house.  Erasmus was a very interesting character.

By the time we stopped for lunch, it was already 2pm!  We stopped at a fancy Thai restaurant called Ma Ma Thai.  The food came with carved vegetable as decoration!  The lunch deal was good and the food was tasty.  We were surprised that there were two Thai restaurant side by side.

We called into Tesco for a quite shopping before we were rushed away from the 3-hours parking limit.  Nice little town.

Birmingham Delights

We first went to Minmin for a light lunch.  Then we caught up with AVEN at the Malt House. The Malt House had some problem with their beer pump, and my cider was horrible until they went to another line to get me a new one.

Then we went to see the Staffordshire Hoard at the Birmingham Museum.  Birmingham Museum is very similar to Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery, which is my favourite art gallery.  I wish I had more time in the Birmingham Museum.

Before dusk, we rushed to the 'new' Birmingham Library to check out the roof top garden.



If you ask any Chinese person, they will tell you the building is covered by 'coins'.

The garden was nice, and the library was quite impressive.

We went back to the Malt House.  They managed to mass up my drink order again.  I wanted Fentimans  Ginger Beer, they were out, so they offered me Crabbe (alcoholic) Ginger Beer instead.  Sarah had to give it away.

We left the group and went to look for dinner back in Chinatown.  Sarah wanted vegetable, so I suggested to have hot pot at Han Dynasty.  The price was okay, the selection was okay, the meat selection was a bit small.  I had to speak Mandarin, otherwise, everything was okay.

It was a fulfilling day out.

Overworked Short Crust

I have been reminded recently that over worked short crust pastry and short bread are very disgusting.

Twisted Stories

I recently hear a story I once told. So many facts were incorrect. Another reason not to believe is anyone's stories.

Snowy November

I woke up to the first snow of the year.  The weekend is meant to warm up, but it was a struggle to get to work in bad road condition.

Valves and Cam Chain

We learnt about valve clearance adjustments and cam chain in the class.  This makes me appreciate more what the mechanics do.  Since I am never going to do this to Little Rome myself, there really isn't much need for me to take the intermediate class.  I should look less surprise by the price when I am next handed a bill.

Basic Science of Cooking

A lot of people think cooking is a mystery. It is just basic physics of heat transfer. Using any medium of heat, resulting in the food being heated to a desired temperature, eg pasteurization, caramelization. You can have the best seasoning, but if the food is overcooked, you would lose the flavour from the food. As s simple modelling of heat transfer, if two substances are of similar consistency and similar size, then they will be "cooked" in the same amount of time. Using this train of thought, if you can cook one meat, you can cook all other meats. And deep frying, confit and water bathing are good cooking method of choice as the heat contact all areas at a controlled temperature.

Headlight for Kendrew

Kendrew's left bulb is gone again.  I thought it was loose, as it turned out, it was actually burnt out. 

I have changed the bulb, and lets hope I have done it correctly and keep the second bulb as spares.

Leeds Tour on Bus

We took the Go for a Fiver into Leeds, and we took 5 journeys out of the ticket, what a bargain.

Roundhay Bonfire Inferno

Sarah and I went to the Roundhay Bonfire.  It was as impressive as always.  I should have brought my monopod and take better fireworks picture.  Maybe next year.

Tyre Protector

My old wheels from the old bike is completely rusted and I took the opportunity to salvage the tyre protector and reassign them elsewhere.  Let's hope I find a good home for them.

Autumn Blues

Last year, I managed to skip the Autumn blues as I was in a turbulent times.  This year, as the weather turns, it is coming.  I first thought the solution could be warmth, but I think alcohol would be more suitable.  Let's hope this won't last long.

Broadband Changes

I just started shopping around for broadband and the changes as recommended by OFCOM are coming in, the prices are going up and down.  I will let it settle down and look again in a couple weeks.

Windows 10 Video

I cannot play any videos on my Windows 10 computer.  There are no free software for videos!  Useless!

Sheaf Street Cafeteria

I have been meaning to go to Sheaf Street Cafeteria.  Unbeknownst to me, it is no longer run by Laynes Espresso, it is now Grub and Grog.  Sarah and I am both quite happy with the experience.  The bacon sandwich has a sauce, which was quite strong, making the bacon sandwich insufficiently piggy.  The vegetable stew was good, so was the cappuccino.  We also spotted free parking directly across from the Tetley!  Another parking choice!

Newcastle Life Animal Inside Out

Sarah and I went to the Life in Newcastle to see Animal Inside Out.

I could have taken more picture.

Now spot your tripe!

Victoria Gate

Victoria Gate is finally opened!  I had a quick walk around.  It was busy as expected.  It has a lot of London-centric shops, it almost feels like I was in London.  I wonder if it will quiet down.

Double Vision - Little Rome

I finished my shopping and went back to Little Rome and saw this!

Almond Flour Brownies

I was trying to use up the bag of ground almond, so I googled for recipes.  This King Arthur recipe is meant for almond flour, perhaps my ground almond is slightly coarser.

The brownie turned out very well, very moist.  It is not as rich as my recipe with real chocolate, but this uses mostly store cupboard ingredients, I could not ask for more.

This is gluten free, but definitely contain a lot of nuts, so not suitable for everyone.

Haribo Factory Shop

I drove the Haribo factory shop at Pontefract.  They opened extra on Saturdays before Halloween.

After I started driving, I realise I need to buy bulk to make the trip worthwhile.  I bought a good amount for family, then when I was unlocking the bike, I stopped and popped back in to buy more for myself.  Then when I went back to the bike and thought, I needed to pop back in to buy more for other friends.  I hope I have bought enough!

Polish Supermarket Karpaty

Karpaty on York Road opened a while ago, and I finally found an opportunity to call in.  We thought it was just an international supermarket, but in fact, it is only a Polish supermarket.

As soon as I walked in, I felt like I was in Europe.  The smell of bread hit me.  Then the signs were all in Polish, and the price is written in the European way.  There were a large deli section, again everything was written in Polish.

Certain things are quite cheap.  I also spotted a large selection of wafer and jaffa cake.  Are they now the Polish favourites?

The Sun Inn Sunday Roast

We stopped at The Sun Inn for Sunday Lunch.  I was debating between giant Yorkshire or Sunday Roast.  I looked at the carvery, it looked nice, so opted for the Sunday Roast.

The potatoes were pale, but turned out crisper than I expected.  I think they used the wrong type of potato, it was not very fluffy inside.  The meat were all a little overdone, a little dry.  The Yorkshire pudding was crispy, and the vegetable was nice.


The scenery is faultless though!

Four Coffee Ride Out

The last ride of the season with Yorkshire GBMCC.  I ended up drinking 4 coffees.  Very unhealthy!

Toasted Linseed

We were at Yours, and saw linseeds.  I didn't know why they will need linseed for cooking.  Then when I was cooking bulgur wheat, I threw in some linseeds, and they started popping.  Then I tried again.  Toasting linseed is like popping corns, they jump and become crunchy and aromatic.  I will be toasting most of my linseed from now on!

Useless Extractor Fan

Why do British use useless extractor fans?  Those 4' fans are absolutely useless!  If a room is 3m x 3m x 3m, and the "standard fan" is 80 cubic meter/hour, it will take 20 minutes to have 1 air exchange.  What a waste of space!

Good Sportmanship

As I get older, I understand not everyone we encounter in life has a similar level of skills, knowledge or wisdom in the different areas.  It is already nicer to spar, discuss, debate something with someone who is of similar level of competence, but it is not always ideal.  It can be frustrating, but this is why sportsmanship is still one of the great virtue.

Slow Post

Snail mail is not so slow when you are not expecting it.  I am expecting some important post, and provided they said it went out 1st class, 10 days is really unacceptable.  Are they changing the routes?

Expensive Mistake: Misfueling

With a lapse of concentration, I put petrol into Kendrew.  I only topped it up because I was near a cheap fuel station.


Everything was running fine until 30 miles later, Kendrew stalled and refused to restart.  I called AA, then remember I probably misfueled.  I put my hazard lights on and put out the hazard triangle, the first time out of its packet.


The AA responder turned up relatively quickly and he managed to restarted Kendrew, and we move onto somewhere away from busy traffic.  I told him about the misfueling, but at first he was not convinced, he sniffed and looked.  He contacted the misfueling team and I was told it will cost upwards of £200.


The recover truck pick us and Kendrew up, dropped us off at a service station and took Kendrew to the garage for the process.  I have signed so many disclaimers!  We spent 2 hours in the service station, had a Little Chef dinner and read all the tourist pamphlets. 


Finally Kendrew was brought back to us.  It was a long day.  I am going to stick some reminders on the car.

Self-Service Badminton Courts

If I pay for a badminton court, I expected it to setup and ready for the period I booked.  Why bother paying the court if it was a self-service badminton court?

Motorcycle 'Gang'

There were a lot of noisy motorcycles out in Leicester, terrorising the motorists inside the city.  I don't regularly see bikers behaving badly, in additional to the noise, ie unnecessary revving, they were doing wheelies, speeding, doing unnecessary filtering.

I can understand why some people hate bikers and equate bikers to these idiots.

Half Day for Chores

I have been trying to arrange for this free boiler service for the last few months.  I finally got a date and I made sure I was at home for him.  I took half day off and waited for the boiler guy.  I mowed the lawn, did laundry and a few other chores.  He turned up early half of the afternoon which enabled me to start traveling to Sarah earlier.  The traffic was only slightly better, but it is always nice to get to Sarah earlier than late in the evening.  I don't really have holiday left now, lets just home I don't have any more chores requiring me being at home.

Heck Sausages

I have been having different sausages, and I defrosted some Heck for one evening.  Heck is so much better!

Post-Brexit Inflation Wave

The first waves are just hitting the shores now.  I am glad I have stocked up.  Many people's delusion about this better future has not worn off, unbelieveable.

Maintenance Heartache

Basic maintenance is therapeutic,in depth maintenance is heartache.  That's why I just send the bike away.  I am simply not interested in struggles.  Safe to say, I am not taking the intermediate class.

Cold Limbs

It is getting cold and I still haven't put the heating on.  Sunlight usually warms the house, but it is also deminishing.  My limbs are getting cold, it won't be long when I have to put the heating on!

Accomplishing Weekend

Light Night, MOT, badminton, carwash, efficient shopping, batch cooking, cookies baking, sunflowers processing, PAYF Bistro, another efficient shopping, house cleaning, trip packing, trip extra booking, gym, in additional to the usual Catan playing, blogging, TV and radio.

Light Night 2016

I missed the bus into town, so I drove.  The town was already busy and I cannot believe I had to park at Level 8 at the Trinity!

I met up with Barry at the train station and head into Light Night.  I first saw the projector hut near the City Square and joked it was a traffic hut.  We walked to Civil Hall and found the big show was not on till 7:30pm, so we wandered into Town Hall, saw a few other installation and performance before going back for the show at Civil Hall.  When we were circling the Town Hall and the Civil Hall, I realised the Light Night is totally a plot to mobilise the citizen to hit the 10000 step goal!

Even the Leeds Cathedral opened their doors with loads of candles.  I suppose 'the light' is on brand with Christianity.

The show at the Civil Hall drew a big crowd, and it was a bit exhausting getting out!  We chopped out the 'Arena Area'.  We saw another installation at the City Museum before having a break at The Arch Cafe.  The Arch Cafe opened late for this event.  We sat down and I read the programme to learn the sad news that Lantern Parade was on Thursday only!

Sarah caught up with us at the Arch Cafe, then we proceeded to see the installation in and around St John The Evangelist.

We walked down Briggate to see the Arts and Crafts Market and the ice sculpture installation before going into Kirkgate Market for Leeds College of Music's gig.

I was not keen to see the installation at the Leeds Docks, but it was on of the bigger installation, we went.

We stopped at the Tetley as the final stop of our tour.  We sat down to watch a video about a flaming Rube Goldberg machine, and other exhibition before heading towards town.  I suggested to walk back to City Square and watch the projection show at the Queen's but it was vetoed.  We walked back to Trinity and pick up the car.



Supposedly, we only walked 3 miles overground.  But with the detour, the circling around the areas, up and down the town hall and museums and trip to and from the car park, I think we did close to 5 miles!  I must remember to wear better walking shoes next year!

Tyre Instruction

Kendrew has some new tyres.  The tyre man said 30psi, even the car manufacturer indicates 42psi.  I asked the car-aware engineers, they said believe the tyre man.  I really prefer to believe manufacturer instruction.  Why is car instructions so confusing!

GBP FX volatility

Foreign Exchange usually doesn't have a high volatility.  But in the face of big events, it does.  It doesn't help with fat fingers.


The GBP x USD saw 1.19.  How do I hedge my bets?

Disappointment with Guardian

Usually Guardian is our newspaper of choice.  But I am increasingly disappointed with them.  I was reading the Sports section, and no a single word about any female sports.  And recent articles about lifestyles were also disagreeable.  Very disappointing!

Beverley Food Festival

As part of our East Yorkshire tour, we stopped at Beverley.  It is a historic market town resembles York, eg massive market square, minster and churches.  It is a posh town, resembles Harrogate and Northallerton, eg high end stores, independent stores and cafes.  But unlike York or Harrogate, Beverley offers free parking on Sundays!

Coincidentally Beverley Food Festival was on, it was massive food market, various entertainment and it was free!  The quality of exhibitors were good.  We sat in the tent, watched cooking demonstration and drank coffee from a flask, we blended in well!  We didn't buy anything from the food festival, I didn't go for any pies or sausage rolls for lunch.  Sarah got a soup from a nearby greengrocer, which came with a white rose as a free gift!  I went to Harper's for a fish cake, but they did not have any, I was very disappointed.  I should have gone for their fish platter!

Beverley turned out to be a very good addition to our East Yorkshire tour.

Hull

I have never been to Hull before, and we took the opportunity to visited it as part of our long weekend.

It is a small city, fairly easy to get around.  It is fairly quiet, and not much is on, much like Leicester.  The marina was nice.  The museums were fairly good.

Maybe it can be marketed as gateway to East Yorkshire.

Badminton on Grass

Sarah and I played some badminton in the park when the wind was calm.  Playing on grass is really dangerous, now I understand why the tennis player hates it!  It is so hard to move around effectively.  And without being at the correct position, it is easy to exacerbate the old injuries.

Spurn

I took Sarah to Spurn.  It was a long slow drive!

We didn't quite get to Spurn point.  I was expecting a lot of migratory bird, but there weren't too many.  Trekking on sand was neither easy nor fun, I had to empty the shoes of sand a few times!  It was sunny and windy, and I ended up dehydrated!  I wish there is an easier way to get to Spurn Point.

Willies chocolate - Madagascan 71 Sambirano Superior chocolate bar

I saved it to the last, but it was nothing more than ordinary.

Kabuto Noodles

I got a Kabuto on offer. I finally got around trying it. It was quite disgusting. Safe to say, never again.

Double Awards

I found my car insurance from a comparison website. I was surprise to find out I was getting double awards. So not only my sister's kids will get an extra toy, I also get extra movie tickets that I may not get to use...

Clean Airbox

I took little Rome to class again. I cleaned her air box out. It was only cleaned out in Spring, but there were loads of insects. I cleaned it out with tool wash, air line, etc. I dislodged a lot of dirt using the air line, and I washed it twice! It is as clean as it could ever be!

Leeds Cake Trail

I devised a cake trail and took Ben and Sarah.  



I very much maxed my sugar quota today. 
The pistachio cheesecake from La Bottega Milanese was very nice. 
Cream (the macaroon place) and Carters (the cafe formerly known as HAVEN) are closed!!!
The coffee at cafe Nu was quite smooth.
The tray bakes in San Co Co looked and sounded amazing.
The cakes at Hepworth Deli looked very nice and healthy portion.
The cakes in the Casa Mia market stall looked nice.
The pecan tart at Moments were great at always.
The Griffin looked like a good pubby venue.

Yummy!

Mathematics One-sided and two-sided surfaces

Sarah was knitting some science-related projects, and I suggested mathematics-related topology objects, the classic: Möbius band, sphere, torus and Klein bottle.  I am very happy with her products!

True Yorkshire Dale RIde

The Dutch came for a day out armed with the Yorkshire Dale route loaded in the Sat Nav.  Dave and I were struggling to comprehend the route, ie the length, the roads and the route itself.  We have given a few points, but they were adamant about following the route provided.

After we struggles past Harrogate and A59, we headed into the Dales.  Part of it follow the Dales Way.  We had never need on so many farm tracks!  We must have zigzagged across all the tracks in the Dales.  At the end, we chopped the routes due to the time limitation.  The two guys on GS really loved the farm tracks, they were fist pumping when they deliberately riding over puddles and drifting across the gravels.  At the end, we split in half, the GS and Dave went down for more farm tracks.  The two sporty bikes came my route via sweeping bendy roads.

GPS dead

I am trying to use the driving assessment app to get some discount to insurance, and it is apparent that my GPS is dead and I am not able to record my journey, this also explains why GPS has not been working correctly!

I suspected it was the plastic case, so I tried with the plastic case off, and GPS worked, not perfectly, but nonetheless works.  I just need to remove the case when I do use it!

Take Your Kid to Gym Season

Leeds Council's Bodyline is offering free junior membership to the members.  There were loads of kids in the gym...

Ginger Candy

Ginger is good for the stomach.  So I gave Dev some Sina Ginger Candy to see if it suits his palate.  He had one, and it was properly chewing it quickly.  He was literally in tears at the end.  Maybe I should have started him on the crystallised ginger?  I hope I have not put him off ginger for life!

Wheel Adjustments

Last year, it was recommended to get some new cush drive every few years as they are rubber and they degrade.  Then I bought some, and Gary tried to put them in and failed.  He reckoned the old cush drive was good and the new cush drive was shit.


So in the lesson, I took off Little Rome's wheel and made some adjustment.  I looked at their Haynes manual, it mentioned nothing about cush drive replacement.  I brought the cush drive anyway, but also cannot fit them in.  Ian identified my wheel's powder coating slightly altered the size of the cushing's slot and pressing the cushing rubber in, also they were not very well made.


I also take the opportunity to clean the sprocket and cush drive areas.  It has never been so clean!  I also cannot believe how quickly I got through the brake cleaner!


I struggled to put the wheel back on, the mechanic always makes it look easy!


Next week, air box, carburettor and compression test.

Stem Ginger Cookies

I made some stem ginger cookies as requested.  Stem ginger is very sticky!  And I am glad it turned out well, I wouldn't know as I don't like ginger and refused to eat them!

"Homemade" Sunflower Seeds

I finally processed the sunflowers. It was a lot of work for a small handful of sunflower seeds.  I saved the tallest's seeds for next year, and ate the other two.  They were very small and not very fleshy.  I toasted and toasted again, I ended up eating all the shells as well.  I wonder if Matt just leave the whole head to the hamster.

Loose Bulbs

Two of Kendrew's bulbs went and I was not happy.  I looked at the filaments and they looked fine.  I thought it was wiring problem, and it maybe associated with the recent repair.  Then I chatted with the Halfords guy, and he slammed my tailgate, Free of Charge!  And the tail light came back on, so I am happy that it was not associated with the recent repair.


The head light's filament was clearly in tack, so I was not prepare to buy a new bulb without first looking at it.  At first it looked okay, as I wiggled it to try to remove the bulb, it occurred to me the bulb was not sitting correctly in the cradle, which would be use as the earth.  So I wiggled it a bit more, and it clicked on, and now it sits flush in the cradle.


I am now happy with all my lights on, especially it is getting dark!

Tyres Shopping

Car is definitely more complicated than a motorcycle.  Kendrew needs some new tyres and I am overwhelmed by choices.  There are different ratings, different purposes, different cost and different services from different supplier.  I spoke to a local tyre place and establish how many tyres I need, they seem to be indifferent about brand and ratings.

A lot of people just go to a tyre place and take whatever they recommend, an element of randomness, but I want something good, and I like to think I contribute in the selection process.  This is a big purchase, and it will have a long lasting effect on the car safety, the fuel economy and even the overall driving experience, I certainly think reading up tyre review is more important than restaurant review.

I think I have made a decision on what, when and how to get the new tyres, it certainly took some brain power!

Shady World of Auto Repairs

The garage dealt direct with AA regarding my power steering issues.  It was first thought to be the pump, then there were also some wiring problem.  Potentially, it was just the wiring problem.  I had to reset the radio and the clock, why was the battery disconnected?  I don't know how much it was, I don't know what else was done to Ken, but it is working for now, so don't ask why and how.

Urban Leeds Foxes

I never believed we had foxes near where I live.  Then when we walked home one evening, we saw a woman feeding two foxes.  We were quite close to two foxes, and has a good look.  It was interesting, but I am not a big fan of urban wildlife!

Beyond Dark 70% Original

Beyond Dark is fairly smooth.  The taste is quite generic and there is a strange after taste.  But it is suitable for vegan and Kosher, is this the best these diet could get?

South Leeds Middleton and Thwaite

As part of Heritage Open Day, we went to Thwaite Mill Watermill.  Unlike most other mills, textile manufacturing, Thwaite was industrial material processing, eg chalk and flint, this is much more interesting.  A lot of the machinery are still operational.  They also did a demonstration with the steam crane.  In comparison, much smaller museum than Armley.

While we were in South Leeds, we also stopped by the Great Middleton Park Show.  It was a small show, with quite a few religious stalls.  We saw owls and ferrets, brass band and the usual.  I heard so much about produce growing competition, and I have finally seen some.

Conjoined Flowers

After the "able-bodied" sunflowers bloomed and wilted, the "disabled" sunflower is now blooming.  This sunflower was snapped when it was young, I nearly pulled it out, but it continued to grow and now it has 3 buds, including this conjoined pair.

Overwhelmed by International News

Sarah got me using the podcast apps. My selection of podcast are usually factual, informative shows. But I am frankly a little overwhelmed by the international news, namely Syria and Russia. They have been in the news for the last 5 years, why are they still news?

Relaxed Motorcycling

I was repeatedly told that motorcycle is two big gyroscopes and I should never worry about falling. I never fully understood it until now. I am now more relax, more trusting to little Rome. I now believe, with the suitable amount of traction and momentum, little Rome will never drop me. I will always be careful when there is a lack of traction, eg rain, or lack or momentum, a serious of quick turns. And if little Rome does drop me, I should just tumble in the direction of momentum as it would be unlikely of other types of impact.

Commuting on Motorcycle

I have been riding to work for the last week or so, I certainly love being on little Rome. The only snag is the hassle, specifically the hassle of putting on motorcycle trousers. I am immediately happier with a smile on my face when I don my motorcycle jacket. Provided the weather is still reasonable, I have found a solution to my problem, ie using a thick denim work-compatible padded trousers. I would not mind riding for a few more weeks!

HIIT

I have tried HIIT in the gym, and I also failed. It takes a lot of motivation to complete such training! And I am not about to pay someone to shout at me.

5:2 Diet

I have tried the 5:2 diet, and failed miserably. I think the trick is avoid hard work in between, otherwise it is very straining. I may attempt it again in a few weeks time.

Nuffield Health MOT

We sat Nuffield at Leicester Pride, and they did a quick Health MOT at the spot. I have refused to weigh myself since I have been in the gym. As the MOT concluded, I am still fat! I am still a way from my target! I have got to regain my motivation!

Leicester Pride Freebies

We skipped the parade and went straight to the stalls before the crowd and the rain arrived. We had a good haul this year at Leicester Pride! I got the opportunity to educate someone regarding hate crime and the difference between transgender and genderqueer. And I learnt a few things about solvent, aerosol and drugs. Pride is all about education!

Nomenclature

Let add this to the "if pronounce in American way will irritate English list". nomenclature 1 : name, designation 2 : the act or process or an instance of naming 3 a : a system or set of terms or symbols especially in a particular science, discipline, or art b : an international system of standardized New Latin names used in biology for kinds and groups of kinds of animals and plants nomenclatural play \ˌnō-mən-ˈklāch-rəl, -ˈklā-chə-\ adjective

Linseeds Perks

I have been eating linseeds since I moved to England. I consider it good dietary supplement, as it is cheap, required vast amount of chewing and majority would still pass untouched, in additional of being one of the few plant food containing omega 3. Then recently I got some promotional materials from Grape Tree that it also contain Lecithin and lignans, all the better. I will be stock piling them from now on.

Power Steering Fault

Car has so many parts, so far with my experience, any given one time, any given thing could fail!

Everything was fine until I restarted Kendrew and it could hardly turn, and I noticed the steering wheel warning light on.  I looked around the Kendrew, no puddle of oil; I looked under the bonnet, no apparent loose connection, so I called AA.

I called them about 7pm, they said it maybe up to 8:30pm. The app doesn't register the call until about 7:27pm, and the van turned up about 7:40pm.

Karl arrived just before 8pm. He plugged the computer in and still no obvious answer. He checked all fuses and earth, still no problem found so he has given up. Since my car was fine, I was told to drive home without power steering! And he offered to follow me home. I did have some problem with the small roundabouts and reversing into the parking space. I had o skip gym because of the problem, but I broke a sweat parking up! I have to try to sort it out tomorrow.

Endurance Ride

The Shropshire Hills was nice.  We has a short tea break at Deb's 1 Café, the scone was nice but the coffee was a bit tasteless.  John suggested me to take ring road East, and it was better.  The signs on M62 was bad, so I opted for A58, which was not much better.


This took me 5 hours!!!!! Apparently it was not far from Google time, but still absolutely exhausted by the time I got home.


I still did my lawn and washed little Rome.  Endless work!

GBMCC at Herefordshire

The weather was not too bad over the weekend and we had some nice rides.

The military road was awesome!



Tintern Abbey and the Wye valley were nice.



When you read the news about the chaotic weekend, I was glad to be in somewhere less eventful.