Narrowboat Alacrity

Well if there was anything that would persuade me to slim down a bit it would be the hell that is topping up Alacritys battery bank.

You need to be a weight lifter and a contortionist just to get to them, to fill them you also need eyes that swivel independently like a chameleon so you can see how much water you are adding.

Why didn’t I remember the Durite automatic battery filler I bought from The Toolbox Shop

its worth its weight in gold and a snip at £15.

 ………loose weight ………….well maybey?…………….a bit of redesign and woodwork ………..a definite yes!

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After a leisurely breakfast (very leisurely) we pulled the pins and moved on to a favorite mooring of ours just above Calcutt top lock.

We had to wait for a lull in the boat traffic to wind Alacrity this accomplished we moored on the offside with a great view of the reservoirs with all the assorted bird life including Grebes and Herons.

It was interesting to see that Calcutt Boats had quite a few hire boats still moored up.

The vastness of Calcutt Marina.

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I didn’t need the alarm clock today………..as soon as I awoke I felt like a greyhound when the trap opens……..

I had done the shopping for the weekend yesterday so all I had to do was put it in the cool bag, put the cats on their automatic feeders and go………..not so quick John……..Ah yes I forgot about SWIMBO….need I say more. Groan………………pack, tidy up wipe this, wipe that, have you done……………………………..you know how it goes.

 Well finaly we arrived ……Just looking at the moored boats, The sounds and smells are a panacea to the battered brain…….

Not having visited Alacrity for a couple of months I expected to find her damp….not so, But she was full of spiders who took umbrage at being disturbed. They were abseiling out of the curtains and assorted corners for hours much to Jo’s disgust (she really hates spiders) so the air was rent with squeeks and other sounds of loathing.

We planned to take Alacrity out and decided to take her over to the Loading dock to fill her water tank and get some gas.

Talking to Paul from the Marina he said that this was the busiest weekend of the year so far and that due to the bad weather most owners were just starting the season.

Now for the smelly bit, we moved around to the pump out and found Nineveh waiting for a mooring to go on brokerage. With all the chores complete we moved off.

Piccadilly Circus or what Iv’e never seen so many boats on the move and everybody happy. We slowly motored down to Braunston Turn and turned left for Napton and Warwick we had decided not to go far and moored just after bridge 101.

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Well thats work over for another week and it’s a bank holiday………………………………

Yes I have been tardy in posting this month but given the problems with my mother in law coming out of hospital and settling back in her home.

Jo and I have moved her bed so she can live downstairs. and rearanged things so she can be as comfortable as possible. She has carers coming in twice a day and meals on wheels (Which she describes as over priced slops) so she is well looked after.

Never mind I’m going boating this weekend ……….Floating stress relief………..Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

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 Wow is all I can say…….Jo had booked tickets for Dancing on Ice as soon as they came on sale and had been looking forward to to the show for weeks.

We had an easy drive to Wembley Arena and parked in the VIP car park.I suggested that we have a pre-show meal in the Arena Restaurant……I can recommend it the food was superb.

Then on to the show……….our seats were close to the ice rink with a great view.

There were outstanding performances from Bonnie Langford, Kieran Bracken and Gareth Gates. I was told off for ogling Kristina Lenko.

  Well who wouldn’t ogle her………………………………….

The Dancing on Ice show was Fantastic………..and no I wont be persuaded to try ice skating i like my bones to remain connected and in one piece.

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Well the new power supply arrived so I stripped the pc down to fit it ………not so easy in a micro cube….well it went in

It buzzes and the fans come on but ……………….a big fat nothing…..

Well it seems that when the power unit went pop so did the video card …………..£40 later and it works………now for the spanish inquesition.

On asking the SWIMBO if she noticed anything odd on or around the time of demise of the power unit “no” she said ” I just moved some books”

Ahh the penny dropped… the books… the same books that were tight up against the computer blocking the cooling air fans…………………………..

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Well having just picked up the cats, done the shopping and visited Vi (my mother-in-law) I decided it was time to update the blog.

Whilst I was away I had read a few books on Linux (alternative computer operating system) I had sort of decided to try Ubuntu a variation of Linux, Having downloaded the programme I decided to load it.

It loaded like a dream and recognised all my hardware it even went on to start downloading the updates……………….Phutt…………….Sod all happened…..ok ok so I should have left well alone, But as you all know I never learn……..The upshot is that the power supply has gone faulty and yes its £89.00 to replace.

So while waiting for it to arrive I’ll have to use my laptop………………

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It would be easier to get Blood out of a Stone than get a refund from my local computer shop.

Well the saga of the Netgear storage unit is over, The Computer shop finaly admitted defeat, It took them 2 days and a change of hard drive manufacturer to get the Bloody thing working so what chance did I have…………………

My argument that it was not fit for purpose, siting the “Easy installation instructions” NOT. and could they gurantee that my data would be stored safely, had them……………Result a refund…………….and a dare I say happy “Grumpy Old Man”

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Well after the trials and tribulations of yesterday I decided to return the Netgear Storage unit “Wrong”. The shop that used to open Sunday mornings doesn’t now. Never mind I may have calmed down a bit when I take it back tomorrow.

Well I thought while I’m out I might aswell call in to Halfords for some firegum to fix the small exhaust leak (That the mot man pointed out) on the other love of my life my Landrover.

When I got underneath (between showers) and took a better look, yes there was a small leak, but the rest of the down pipe was like a piece of lace along the welded seam……..”Bugger”………. it’ll take more than firegum to fix that……..Get a new one I hear you say……..Not on a Sunday….

Twenty minutes later and a set of bloodied knuckles the downpipe was off with only a little application of the gas axe. In the vice with it and grind out the rusty seam. It wasn’t just the seam that was rusty so were my welding skills I realised that it must have been a year since I’d done any gas welding but hey hum its like riding a bike you never totally forget, but there again I Can’t ride a bike…..

It took me about an hour to re-weld the seam and the flange on the end, not a bad job done, even tho’ I say so myself.

There’s one thing about Landrovers there is so much ground clearance that re-fitting the exhaust was easy… and it didn’t leak.

I rewarded myself with a can of Bass………………………….heaven…………………………

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Lately Ive been pondering on getting some network storage for my computer system so I can back up my pictures and website.

looking in my local computer shop I saw the Netgear SC101T which looked to fit the bill so I bought one and two 500 gig drives to put in it.

If i’d only read the reports on the web about it I wouldnt have bothered……….what a total lump of wasted space suffice to say it worked when it wanted, it stopped my computers talking to each other, it seemed to just appear then disappear at will and after spending a whole day trying all the permutations I gave up………

In a foul temper and only put of from smashing it up by the chance of returning it and getting my money back………………I decided that it was beer time…….

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