Rethinking Power Outlets

I remember when we looked at the Yaris, they have phased out all the USB-A and cigarette jacks, so I would have to get all new USB-C cables.

Then the new power station also does not have a cigarette jack.  On the assumption that USB-C is here to stay, and it is powerful enough to replace a chunky cigarette jacks, I just need to find replacement cables for USB-C to DC jack to replace my devices with cigarette jacks.  Or I just have to accept the inefficiency by using AC adaptor and increase the conversion loss.

Speed Fixing

At the repair cafe, you see the trivial repairs, and you fixed it in two minutes.  Someone at the Leeds festival called me magic for zipping their tent up in minutes.  And I refit a child's bike's brake and changed a fuse, all done at the drop of the hat, they were really quite trivial...

Lost Not Found

I dropped my little power bank in the camp site, and I kept asking the shops if anyone handed it in.  I looked and looked.  It was a useful little power bank, I was a little sad.

Portable Power Station III

We recommended the same power station to someone, and their also arrived.  They also have a solar only system, so they are now enjoying the morning and evening electric heater use, and the thought that should there be a rare power cut, they can keep the freezer going.

Meanwhile, one of the days, I managed to use 50% before recharging.  And that we are making good use of the X-boost function.

Autumn Camping

The forecast was very good, so I brave myself for a weekend in my tiny tent.  I did plan for the night being cold, so I packed the biggest sleeping bag.  On the last day, there were so much condensate, that the sheets were dripping when I put them away.

That is my camping badge refreshed.

Lincolnshire Mills

I went on the bike to visit and revisit some mills.  Sibsey Trader is English Heritage and it was free and well managed.  Waltham put the cap back on, and apparently they sells rolled porridges.  So I stopped at 3 windmills, one water mill and saw another windmill enroute.

Bacon Flatbread

We had a couple of couple coupon for breakfast flatbreads at Dishoom.  They were okay, they managed to make at least three mistakes in our small order.  We are glad we tried.

Barren Trough

I moved the mint to the planting trough, thinking it is hardy, and it managed to die a couple times, not sure if they will come back next spring.  I put some old nasturtium seeds in it, let see if they want to grow.

AI Slop

There are definitely more and more AL slop online.  I really need to stick with the long forms.

Portable Power Station II

The portable power station has been delivered, even though it said it wasn't going to be delivered till middle of October.

But since I had not got time to look at it in the day time, so I only unboxed it, played the app and registered the warranty, cannot wait till we start playing with it.

Slow Train is Slow

I was coming home from Sheffield, and I thought I would hop on the first train to Leeds, what a mistake.  I was on a train for a very long time, missing a connection that I could have gone on earlier, and some tracks was so noisy, that I put my ear plugs to protect my ears.  I should just stick to the computer suggestions.

Power Up Game Plan Revisit

The first power up session we tried to execute our game plan, and we did not manage to do everything we wanted to do.  I never remember laying out the cookies on the cookie sheets took forever, which had not been done before the hour, hence delayed many things, including the cheese straw.  I should also have envisage the dishes time/hot water in the calculation.

The bombay mix turned out well, as did all the cookies.  We managed to use 5.69kWh, let's hope they pay up!

Cardo Pedestrian Tracking

I turned the Cardo Ride on when I took Unthank to the MOT place, then I walked to work.  In previous time, it records the routes I walked, but this time, it had not.  I wonder if it excluded it due to my speed.

Mis-selling Electrical Goods

I have been browsing the portable solar solutions.  I noticed a lot if listings are incorrect, with an extra zero on their ratings.  That reminds me of a charging pod I got from Amazon, which also had an extra zero on their rating, I was furious!

Always get another pair of eyes, and double check the physical dimensions to confirm if it physically possible that item can deliver that ratings.

Portable Power Station

I have resisted in getting a house battery, as I don't think we are getting the most out of it and the battery are still improving.  Even with the "plug-in ready" house battery, it is still a bit silly, with its bad round trip efficiency, especially they are all grid tied.

On the other hand, I have thought about a portable power station, which is not grid-tied.  It goes back to the inverter size question, what can it do for me.  After much consideration, we are thinking about getting a 1kWh power station.  Watch this space.

Go Ape Annual Pass Calculation

We thought we would get a discount for a Go Ape Annual Pass from our recent Go Ape visit.  Then the discount code we received is not applicable to the annual pass.

Then I made some calculation, the annual pass is essentially 4 visits, or 5 visits if good deals to be had.  It is not impossible, but it is more impossible to do 4 or 5 different ones, which include travels, and all the ones "near" us, we have already done.

After much consideration, we decided not to go for it.  Although we have been making good use of our Merlin year.

Dipping Sauce Rejection

I am not a saucy person, but the hot meal deal from Asda includes a dip, so I picked nacho cheese dip.  We had a tiny taste, and it went straight to the bin.  Who likes dips?!  Just pure unnecessary chemicals.

Power Up Game Plan

In order to maximise the power up session, I have done a spreadsheet on what goes on when.  I am happy with the plan, it looks good, and I know what needs to be prepared and it takes the thinking out of the day.

Let see how well we can execute the plan.

River Wear on Boat

I was tempted to row or drive a boat the whole holiday, and I finally got the chance.  We went to Durham, and we hired a big old wooden rowing boat.  I have not been on a big row boat like this and probably not again.

The oars were long and made of solid wood.  I felt like I was a galley slave!

We went down the river, then up the river, and back to the pickup point.  It was hard work!  I will stick with my small row boat next times.

Urgent Flu Jab

Since the free jab is unavailable this year, we decided to get the jab right the way, so we filled in the form, and went to ASDA.  They didn't even bother with explanations or ask us to wait anymore.

We also stocked up on picnic items, it was an efficient trip.