What have you been doing today?

[Odds]

A rolling stone gathers no moss

Although, if you'd watched the programme last night, you'd see rocks in Iceland that do roll when the ice around them melts and forms a little island beneath the rock which tips over and rolls, gathering more moss.
In Antarctica a scientist found a bed of moss two meters thick, took a core sample and concluded it had begun to grow as the (western) Roman Empire went into decline.
Amazing stuff.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Although, if you'd watched the programme last night, you'd see rocks in Iceland that do roll when the ice around them melts and forms a little island beneath the rock which tips over and rolls, gathering more moss.

Yep, I saw it, and quoted from it

In Antarctica a scientist found a bed of moss two meters thick, took a core sample and concluded it had begun to grow as the (western) Roman Empire went into decline.
Amazing stuff.

And that too - yes absolutely and facinating amazing.

 

[Mottie]

Popped up Lidl to buy my coffee pods and a few other bits. I picked up a carrier bag from the understairs cupboard but I noticed it was a Waitrose one. I would have felt a fraud coming out of Lidl with a Waitrose bag so I put it back and took a Co-op one!

 

[Mottie]

Just finished the last of the Christmas Turkey. I had a frozen leg in the freezer. Best of all, I found an unopened jar of Boxing Day pickle in the cupboard.

 

[securespark]

Glove box light?

Good shout. Would they come on all the time or only when the lights are on?

I'll check it anyway.

If we get another call from him tonight, we will know it's got to be something else....

 

[Diver Fred]

Got a call from middle boy. Just recently started driving to and from work after passing his test.
He couldn't get the car started.

Went out to him and the battery was flat as a pancake
Connected up my jump leads and it started just fine.
He checked the position of the light switch and the lights were off, so it wasn't that.

The courtesy light was turned off too. Not sure what it was. Had a new battery last year. Just going to have to play it by ear.

How recent is the car?
Does it have Start/stop technology?
Is there a 'Wake-Up' procedure to following a a battery replacement? Look in Handbook. (which is why I normally change batteries by connecting a small capacity battery to the car before taking off the old battery - usually through the power socket.)
Has he wired anything directly to the battery?
Has the battery been coded to the car?
Batteries are different on Start/stop cars; which I knew but was briefed on that this week when I bought a new one for my car.'Normal' batteries will not last long on Start/Stop vehicles.

 

[conny]

Got a call from middle boy. Just recently started driving to and from work after passing his test.
He couldn't get the car started.

Went out to him and the battery was flat as a pancake
Connected up my jump leads and it started just fine.
He checked the position of the light switch and the lights were off, so it wasn't that.

The courtesy light was turned off too. Not sure what it was. Had a new battery last year. Just going to have to play it by ear.

Dashcam or Satnav plugged into ciggy lighter which has a permanent live or he has 'Impact Sensor' switched on in dashcam.
To use 24hr monitoring with dashcams, they have to have the red wire from the rear camera connected to a permanent live feed, usually one of the rear lights. It should explain this in the installation booklet but it's easy to miss.

 

[Ihavenojob]

Good shout. Would they come on all the time or only when the lights are on?

I'll check it anyway.

If we get another call from him tonight, we will know it's got to be something else....

My Mrs had a similar problem, fit new battery and it still went flat. Traced it to a brake light switch which was causing the brake lights to stay on. It could also be a dodgy alternator, need to check you're getting about 14v at the battery with the car running, or even a duff new battery.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I had a difficult to trace discharge, which turned out to be the voltage sensing relay, for the caravan tow socket. It was just set marginally, so it t would close as the voltage settled higher after the engine was stopped, voltage would then fall slightly, due to current used by the relay, which caused it to open, rinse and repeat for ever more until the battery was flat.

 

[Mottie]

Popped over the allotment today just for a look to see it my onions and garlic had survived the wet and frosty weather. They were doing fine but I thought I’d turn over my compost bins while I was there. Lots of lovely red worms in there which attracted a Robin.

Another compost bonus was that some plants that I thought had died last year and were chucked in the compost had started growing again - I got some bunches of chives and some horseradish roots so I replanted them.

I spread some compost on my asparagus bed and made a start on laying some fresh wood chippings on my paths. I was speaking to another plot holder who told me that someone on the adjacent plot to me had given up his plot and said that anyone could help themselves to whatever was on his plot. The greenhouse and water butt had been taken so I helped myself to a couple of large rhubarb crowns. I made myself a coffee on my gas stove and sat looking at the scarecrow Heron while I drank it.

Before I knew it, nearly three hours had passed! Time really flies when I'm over there.

 

[HERTS P&D]

Roll on the good weather!

Andy

 

[Mottie]

Today I’ve done a bit of electrickery fault finding. I noticed that my firestick wasn't running as good as usual. Checked the connection and it was running on Wifi. It should have been running on the ethernet. Checked the TV. Same thing. Got my cable tester out and all the connections were good from the ethernet switch to the various ethernet sockets. Same with the connection to the switch from the router. I brought the telly down from the bedroom and plugged a lead from the router directly into the tv. It worked on the ethernet. Same with the firestick. I thought it must be a faulty ethernet switch so I put everything back together…….and everything started working! Don’t know what I did - maybe a faulty connection from the router to the ethernet? Maybe switching things off and switching them back on cured it? Who knows - I’m still chalking it up as a fix.

Another bonus I’ve just discovered today is that my CCTV can again be viewed remotely. It packed up about 6 months ago and I could only watch it on my TV whilst indoors. Now we can view it on both iPads and iPhones. The DVR is connected to the ethernet so it looks like that by just disconnecting the power to the switch and powering it up, it’s all working again! That’s the modern equivalent of giving your telly a bang on the side to get it working again.

 

[securespark]

How recent is the car?
Does it have Start/stop technology?
Is there a 'Wake-Up' procedure to following a a battery replacement? Look in Handbook. (which is why I normally change batteries by connecting a small capacity battery to the car before taking off the old battery - usually through the power socket.)
Has he wired anything directly to the battery?
Has the battery been coded to the car?
Batteries are different on Start/stop cars; which I knew but was briefed on that this week when I bought a new one for my car.'Normal' batteries will not last long on Start/Stop vehicles.

2002.
No.
No.
No.
No.

He doesn't have a dash cam and uses his Pixel 6 Pro for SatNav. It gets charged at home, not in the car.

I do a weekly lights check with him and the brake lights work as they should.

There is no tow bar or associated electrics.

And I checked the glovebox and can't find a light in there.

And there was no repeat performance tonight. The car started no issues.

Bit of a mystery!

 

[securespark]

Best of all, I found an unopened jar of Boxing Day pickle in the cupboard.

Ingredients:

A Bond film, Charades, rather too much Bailey's, An argument and a sprinkling of friction involving the in-laws.

 

[Brigadier]

Roll on the good weather!

Andy

Remember, barely six months ago, we were flaking in forty degrees