Solar Panel Size

I reversed the calculation to work out the standard size of solar panel.  I finally looked it up, there is a simple formular and a standard irradiance!

With the efficiency around 20%, 100w panel has to be at least 0.5sq meter, this make scaling very easy.  You can simply work out what if the solar panel is being misadvertised.

Complicated Irreparable Gadgets

There are air fryers and there are "multi-cookers".  I like my appliances simple.

So this multi-cooker came in, it is expected to have a broken wire.  It was not obvious, it is expected to be at the hinge, but there were no charring.

The wire broke much higher than the hinge, and it has been broken overtime, the remaining wire carried more than more power, which made it extra hot and extra brittle, it was not possible to pull any wire through without fully deconstructing the top assembly.  Also the connection was both crimped soldered, and probably with high temperature solder.

Why do people think an expensive counter-top gadget is required when they have a perfectly fine fan oven is beyond me.

New Restaurant

The long anticipated Regency Palace is finally open, and we went to try.  They met expectation, there is a few flaws, but it balanced out to be pretty good.

The British Lion Mark Explained

I was at a local green grocer and saw an egg box with the codes explaination, so I took a picture for reference.  Then we went to our local shop or some eggs.  Their eggs did not have codes before, and this time they do.  I am glad can know read the codes.  And I will not be going back to the same place for their overpriced eggs.

Off Grid Solar System at Home

I have rigged up my old motorcycle battery into an off grid solar system.  It is just an elaborated power bank.  The battery is 10Ah, that means 120Wh, except being a older lead acid battery, it is probably half of that, 60Wh, when lithum power bank is supposedly 150Wh.

But this of grid system is capable to charge at 12V, where as the power bank can only do 5V devices.  I am sure it has its own purposes.

Ebay Live

I have sat through the mall auctions in the 1990s, where they are selling random stuffs auction style, including my seatbelt cover that I still use today.

They are trying to bring it back on Ebay Live.  But since they usually do it in their little shop or warehouse, without real customer in vicinity, they have less showmanship, they are quite painful to watch to be honest, it is all about shifting goods.

Cheap Portable Panel

I have bought a cheap portable solar panel, and it arrived on the cloudy days.  We finally got some sun, and it does charge devices.  Where I could get a spare battery to use it as a flow.  

I am still waiting for an adaptor to see if it can charge the portable battery.

Standby Power

The power station has been pretty good, but it is not particularly portable, but all the small ones have very small inverter, so they are just big power bank for USB outputs.

Power Up II

This time, we get two hours for the Power Up.  We revised the plan and stuck mostly to the plan.  We managed to use 9kWh from the grid, we would gave used more from the grid if it wasn't so sunny outside.

It was hard work for that £2.

Compost Shopping

We went to two local garden centres and two chain establishments, we ended up getting it from a chained store.  We did buy some seeds and bulbs from the local shops.  Let see how they fare next spring.

Miller and Carter Lunch

The last time I had lunch at Miller and Carter was with Angela in Manchester.  This time we tried the Garforth branch.  The food was very tasty and well seasoned, but I think it threw my electrolyte off balance...

Lasagna Comparison

We were comparing Rachel's lasagna and Sainsbury's Taste the Difference lasagna, they were both have fairly high meat content, but I think the Sainsbury's one has more white sauce.

Fruit and Nut Granola

I recently acquired a bag of Tesco Fruit and Nut Granola, there were hardly any fruit and nuts.  The Lidl Deluxe nuts granola are much better,

Wifi Direct Printer

We still haven't sorted out the work printer, printing one document at a time office was quite a pain.  I am not sure what network solution is possible for this.

GBMCC TLOSS Stamford - Day 4

We all loaded up, divided up the surplus food and drink and made our way home.  I went straight up A1, and fearing the rain, I put the jacket on, which was a mistake, as it was flapping the whole way, and I was only slightly rained on at the end.

I went straight home and upload, I am glad to be home.

GBMCC TLOSS Stamford - Day 3

I was convinced I was riding on my own, but I was still ready to get out at 9am, then Mark decided to join.  I was on the bike by 9:05 and we rolled off at 9:11, which is as good as we normally hope for.

The first section was Lincolnshire dykes and they were in varying degree of disrepair.  And along the way, we saw two disused windmills.  Then we were rained on a little before we got back on the boring A47.  We were going to a small independent cafe, which decided not to open, so we went to Costa.

We went on the back road from Heaham to Hunstanton, which was also a mistake.  I quickly nip in to look at the seals whilst Mark and another Costa.

We went to the cliff top cafe, which was a fairly disappointing greasy spoon.  I should have known there isn't much of cliff in Norfolk.

We started riding back via boring roads via King's Lynn, then back onto more dykes.  It rained on us again, just when Moulton Windmill came into view, so we went straight into the cafe first.  We had some tea and I bough some flour.

On the way back, more back roads, more dykes, and they were some of the worst ones this weekend.  We fueled up and wet back just after 4pm, the timing was perfect.

They went out for dinner when I made myself another omelette and watch TV.

GBMCC TLOSS Stamford - Day 2

I have planned my run with windmills in mind.  I planned to set off at 9am, but after some feedback, we pushed it back to 9:40, as a result, we didn't get to first tea stop till 11:30am, and lunch at 1:45pm, it would have make much more sense if we had left at 9am.

Anyway, we did a fair bit of suburban roads before getting onto East Anglian and Cambridgeshire dykes.  We stopped at Cattells and Great Gransden windmill, both decorative.  When we got to Bourn mill, it started raining, and we were hungry, so we rode on.  We saw Madingley windmill from the road and we stopped at Madingley Hall for lunch.  

By then, some of them already had enough of riding, so after we had a little stroll at the garden, some of them went home on A14 and A1, which I refused to do.  Two bikers came back with me via B roads, which were quite nice.  We got home just after 5pm and it was a little cold.  I should have stick with the guns and set off as planned...

Everyone just had brinners, and I made myself an omelette.

GBMCC TLOSS Stamford - Day 1

I took the back route across rural Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire to get to Stamford.  It was so rural, that there were cattle grids and staffed railway crossing!  I stopped at Wymondham windmill and Whissendine windmill, with some really reasonable priced flour.

I stopped at Rutland Water for a sausage sandwich and a cup of tea, and I had to wolf it down to beat the clock on the grace parking period!

I arrived early, so I help bringing in the groceries, which was a lot of work! Due to some room arrangement issue, I ended up in a top floor room, which comes with its problem, namely water pressure.  I took the opportunity to walk to Burghley House to look at some sheep and deer before dinner.  We had dinner at a curry restaurant, it was very Stamford price!

Orzo Pasta

Orzo is a pasta, made with wheat.  Risotto is made of riso, which is rice.  We had some orzo pasta, which is often a more expensive type of pasta.  I am not sure why one would put a bowl full of it as it would be expensive!

Random Freebies

Since the Octoplus reward has been changed, we have been getting a lot of weird items.  The coupons for merch is of course not enticing, crisps and chocolate bars are at least acceptable.  This week is skittles, this is basically our limit on what we would get...