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De-mod happy …

… or how I neutered the beast

When even Sam found the new Civic embarrassingly loud, it was pretty clear that I needed to do something about it. So I ordered myself a new back box of ebay (along with donut gasket) for £61. It arrived today and I spent a happy couple of hours taking off the old exhaust, and fitting the new one.

The noisy, ASBO inducing, back box had obviously only been fitted fairly recently (within a year or so?) and the two bolts joining the back box to the middle section came off quite easily, although the sizes of the two flanges didn’t quite match and it had been fixed together with a bit of brute force and ignorance.  And subsequent research has suggested that the two sections should be joined with spring bolts (rather than just bolts) so I may get  a couple of them and re-fit at a later date.

Anyway, the new back box went on without too much fuss and the vehicle is now running in stealth mode (well, not exactly, but it is a lot, lot quieter.) I think I will also put the original resonator box back on, I think it will make it quieter still and probably run a little cleaner (and better) as it will be drawing in cold air, as designed. But before I can do that, I need to get some replacement bolts (the original bolts that bolt the resonator box to the car have vanished) and a new, standard, air filter. But these are jobs for when we return from Italy. But in the meantime, I’m a happy hector who enjoyed his work this morning, and now has a car that won’t wake the dead, or scare the natives.

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The big chill


Pic of the week 21/1/24

The cold weather has persisted this week – in fact it got a whole lot colder towards the end of the week. For me, Thursday seemed particularly cold – walking home from school at circa 6.45pm (after detention) I was so cold I almost broke into a run just to get me home. I think the temperature did fall to about -4 degrees overnight.  I have decided that I definitely don’t like the cold . Did I say that last week? I think I did. It must be true!

But its all change today – its be grey and (relatively) warm (its still January, so not shorts and t-shirt weather, but could do a few outside jobs in fleece and body warmer) and a bit blowy.  As the afternoon has worn on, the wind has whipped up and it is now blowing fiercely and the rain has returned. Although I’ll probably be complaining about the wind and rain before long, I think I do prefer it, and I do quite like the energy and excitement of the wind when it blows.

Today, I replaced the sensor light on the back of the house. Not a difficult job – took the old one down last week as it kept tripping the circuit breaker, ordered a new one and wired it in today.  Also ran my second 10K of the year, am pleased I am now once again regularly running this distance.

Have been helping Sam, remotely, with re-arranging equations as he revises for an Economics exam tomorrow, It is pleasing to see that he does now take his studies seriously, and works independently; thought we’d never see the day!

This week I have a watched a Spanish language film, entirely in Spanish – albeit with Spanish subtitles. La Sociedad de la Nieve , a film about the Uruguayan plane crash in the Andes in 1972. It helped that I new the story – hace muchos anos, I had watched (with Becky) the film Alive, which was an English language version of the story, and I then read the book; plus it was a “slow paced” film so the dialogue was not too rapid (unlike in, say, and action movie) and I watched it over three nights, but I enjoyed the film, and whilst I didn’t understand every word spoken, I was able to follow along.  I am pleased with how my Spanish is progressing.

 

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Cold!

 

Pic of the week 14/1/24

This week it has been cold! Not the cleansing, invigorating blue sky, fresh cold, no, the grey overcast cold, with biting wind thrown in.

On Monday I refereed a school cup game. Two minutes to go we were 2-1 down (to the better side) Oh well, thinks I, a shame we shall go out, but I will soon be able to go in and start to defrost. But no, an innocuous free kick just beyond the  half way line, and somehow an equaliser is scored. Cue twenty minutes of extra time. A quick lead is claimed, and again, two minutes from extra time full time it looks like we’ll have a winner. But no, another last minute equaliser. Cue penalties. At least before I was running around, now I was stood managing the penalty shoot out, and feeling the last therm of warmth drain from my body. A the penalties just kept flying in. Sudden death – and I’m thinking if we don’t get a result soon, the sudden death will be me, from hypothermia.  At last, some poor soul has their penalty saved, and we can all go home. Rinse and repeat on Wednesday, but this time the sun was shining, and the game mercifully one-sided, no fear of penalties here. But after the brief appearance of the sun on Wednesday, the greyness has returned, along with falling temperatures.  I don’t like the cold, it has little, if anything, to commend it. Roll on warmer days!

On Thursday we (Year 10) went to Bristol en-masse and me and 100 students visited the SS Great Britain.  Of course, I took the opportunity to dress up and have my photo taken. A striking resemblance to Isambard Kingdom Brunel I think?!

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Barcelona, Balnes and Girona

Pic of the week 29/10/23

So for the last eight days or so, we’ve been away travelling through north-eastern Spain, Catalonia. Departing on Wednesday 18 October, we flew out to Barcelona (a very civilised 10 am flight!) and then hoped on a train into the city, where we stayed for 5 nights, enjoying the sites and scenes that Barcelona had to offer.

I must confess, my initial thoughts (well after the excellent train ride from the airport to the city centre) were a little disappointing as we found La Rambla and walked along the famous street of Barcelona – yet another disneyfied experience that could have been any where in Europe (yes, I’m thinking of you Dubrovnik and Rhodes old towns) – sanitised and designed to part the tourist from there money. But we soon left the well beaten track and headed into the gothic quarter – busy, but much less so, and certainly more authentic; you got a sense that you were in Spain, Barcelona, and not just a magnet for the cruise ship masses.

 

The next day we did the must sees of Parc Gruell and the Sagrada Familia – very and impressive and worth seeing. Becky loved the (slightly bonkers – my opinion) architecture of Gaudi

although I think I preferred the more classical constructions, particularly when married with the modern. I particularly liked this:

The Church of Santa Maria del Pi

The huge piece of modern artwork inside the old building drew me in and was particularly striking. The artwork was commissioned when the outside of the church was graffitied and the authorities entered into a dialogue with the artists, looking to collaborate. I don’t think these old buildings – wonderful though they are – should exist in a vacuum, they are part of a modern, breathing world and  need to work out their place in today’s world.

With the pun fully intended, my highlights of the trip to Barcelona were when we gained height and could enjoy fantastic vistas across the landscape. On the Friday we went to Montserrat by train, cable car and funicular before exploring on foot the strange mountains and rocks

We also got high by going to the top of the church at Tibiado

and on the Sunday when we took the funicular up to Montjuic where, in addition to the views

we wandered the parks and grounds and saw a few sights from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

After some busy days on Barcelona, we went up the coast, via slow train (1 and half hours, E6 each)to the seaside resort of Blanes.

The day we arrived was windy and the sea very rough, but it was lovely to have a slower pace of life and sound of the sea crashing onto the shore.

The next day was calmer, we walked up to botanic gardens, Jardi Botanic Marimuta, which were beautiful

… and then we went and found a cove to soak up the sun for the afternoon.

where I swam in the sea – warm, and clear. The highlight of my holiday

And then it was up to Girona for night (flying back from Girona was much cheaper (and less busy & stressful) than returning from Barcelona)

Whilst in Girona, we walked the walls, and I made a new friend, Eugene, 78, who spoke to me in Spanish for some time about the region – I was pleased to be able to “get by” in conversation with several locals during the trip

Then it was an evening flight back to Bristol. Shortly after taking off we flew over Blanes in the dark, a last glimpse, a last reminder of a great Catalan adventure.

Becky’s blog – and far more photos – of the trip can be found here

 

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Croatia Calling

Pic of the week 30/7/23

On Thursday we (Becky & I) returned from a fantastic 8 days in Cavtat, Croatia.

I loved it – it is a beautiful place, the pace of life was suitably chilled, a melting pot of nationalities, the price was right, the food and drink delicious and the water – well the water perfect.

The sea was deep, calm and refreshing.

It didn’t matter whether it was “our” cove,

or over at beautiful Plat – a 15 minute bus ride to the other side of the bay:

The weather was hot (and the apartment air-con deliciously cool) and we woke on the Tuesday to smoke on the mountains opposite as bush fires took hold. All day, we watched aircraft scoop up water from the sea and then water bomb the mountains opposite us.

We were never in danger (in fact, it was a privilege to watch the planes in action) but a few days earlier we had read in the news of holidaymakers being evacuated from Rhodes as they fled forest fires. The scene that night was quite elemental as we watched the hills burn:

The fire just added to the drama and interest of the week. We also saw a spectacular lightening storm one night, water polo practice in the harbour, some local folk dancing and some varied bird life – I swam 5 metres from a cormorant,  saw a heron and kingfisher in plat and had swallows swoop within feet of me as I swam in the calm of the early morning. It really was a great holiday.

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Streets and seeds

Pic of the week 30/4/23

So its been back to school this week, the summer term, but not summer weather. Its been grey, damp (very wet at times) and chilly. The winter and spring of 2023 have not been good. The garden, though, is looking lovely – the pic above is tulips and bluebells along the “washing line path”  I’m pleased with the way the lawn is looking, still have tulips flowering in it alongside daisies, and the alliums (both in the lawn and in points) are close to flowering.  As I put out some washing this morning under a grey sky, I was struck by how peaceful the space was, it certainly was a calm oasis although I’ll be happy for it to turn into a scorching fiesta of flowers!

And to help create this, today I planted my first sunflower seeds of the season – two trays (20 seeds worth) of “Titan”, the same of “Giant Single” and 18 seeds of “Autumn Beauty”

This morning I ran 7K – my foot has been feeling fine so I thought I’d risk running again and I’m glad I did.  I was “aware” of my foot as I ran, and since returning, but I wouldn’t say its hurting, so that is a huge step (pun intended!) forward.  There were times when I thought I might never run again.  I was, inevitably, slow, but I was pleased that I was able to complete the 7K. Onwards and upwards from here!

I also think it worth recording that yoga isn’t taking place this term, so perhaps my days on the mat are done for good (did still do some stretching when I got back from my run) Perhaps I’ll do it again if it re-starts in September, but you never know, once something stops it can be quite hard to start again.

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Micra Alternator

Pic of the week 14/2/21

The Micra has had a tough few months. At the start of December the brake master servo sprang a leak and the brakes stopped working (fixed that.) Then, just before Christmas, the exhaust tail box dropped off. I got National Tyres (at the bottom of the hill) to do that, but the couldn’t get the parts until the new year, so it was early January before that was fixed. Driving it the short way home, the car was making a hell of a noise, and both Becky and Sam commented on how the car didn’t sound right when they used it.

Some (pro-longed) fault diagnosis led me to conclude that it was the alternator – confirmed by removing the fan belt and firing up the car – no noise. Spinning the various pulleys, it quickly became clear it was the alternator (I think the bearings on the drive clutch had “gone”).

Anyway, was just taking it on the occasional short, round the block trip to keep things ticking over whilst I researched how to change the alternator, hoping to make it to half term, when I’d have a little more time. But about 10 days before half term, on one short such spin one lunch time, the alternator seized completely, belt disintegrated, and I made it home on what was left in the battery.

I’d already bought a “new” 2nd hand alternator and last weekend began the job of removing it.  In theory, simple: remove belt (already off as broke whilst driving), two electrical connections and two bolts.

But life is not that simple.

The alternator was buried behind heaps of “gubbins.”

Car up on sticks, remove driver side wheel & wheel arch, to access belt – easy enough. But then I realised I would have to remove a headlight, tensioner puller, much of the front bumper, a few air pipes just to get access.

And eventually I got access, and I eventually undid the two bolts.

But …

The lower bolt could be removed as there wasn’t clearance between it and the chassis. Now we came to the most nervous bit.  Jack under the engine (plank of wood on the sump) and tentively loosen the three engine mount bolts. Carefully, bit by bit, lower the jack. Eventually there is enough clearance and the bolt slides out.

Now just jack the engine back up … but (I think) my trolley jack had settled into the ground and I couldn’t get the engine back up.  Beginning to get a little concerned at this point. Then, have a brainwave. Get a concrete block and the tyre changing jack and use this to raise the engine back up. Still some fiddling and faddling to realign the engine mount, but loosening it “car side” gave me the necessary play. Phew!!

Now just whip out the alternator and put in the new one …

But no, the old alternator took some crow barring to get it out, and then some dexterous manhandling to get it out of the car, but eventually I emerged triumphant, dead alternator in hand.

Thought I’d pop the new alternator in and secure with top bolt and call it quits for the day, but I just couldn’t get it to fit.

Long story short, when you tighten the alternator in place, it draws through two bushings to provide a tight fit – so tight you can’t get an old one back on, YouTube & the internet told me to hammer the bushings back through, but they weren’t going to budge.

So I bough a new alternator (£120 compared to £20 for the 2nd hand one) and this weekend I fitted it. Went in like a glove, top bolt in securing it in place. Now for the difficult bit – lowering the engine to allow the bottom bolt to go in. I took my time, was cautious and no dramas, engine dropped (say 1cm?) bolt inserted, engine re-lifted, mounting bolts tightened.

Put everything back together – fitting the belt was difficult, v tight. Hopped in car ready to start her up to check all OK, turn the key: nothing.

Battery dead. Tried jumping her, but still nothing. Left the car on trickle charge and at 10pm, before going to bed, she turned over, but didn’t start, then battery died.

Left her on charge overnight.

In the morning, got expectantly in. Nothing, nada, zilch. Took the battery negative cable off, left for a minute, put it back on. Dashboard lights up -promising – turn key, turns over, sparks into life. Fantastic!

But then I noticed the wheels turning when not in gear. Odd. Feared I might have completely screwed something, but a quick internet search suggested that this is normal with both wheels of the ground.

Spent an hour or so rebuilding the front of the car (headlights, bumper, under tray, wheel arch) wheel back on, drop it off sticks, fire her up, voltage check – alternator kicking out a healthy 14Volts +, and take her for a test drive. All good, and I’m one happy hector. Frustration at times, but on the whole I’ve enjoyed myself, and a great deal of satisfaction derived from a job well done!

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Cars, Computers, cold and lockdown

Pic of the week 10/1/21

Well, its been an eventful week.

We’re now in lockdown 3, and schools are closed so I’ve begun remote teaching again. Looking at the positives, I’m not as tired as I would have been as I can get up a little later, no duties, no Wednesday or Saturday games; I’ve got a bit more time to crack on with a few projects, and I’ve learnt lessons from lockdown 1 (mainly don’t be too rigid with a daily timetable. Teach when you have to teach, but other than that work at times that suit). But it (teaching remotely) is not as good as being in school. I reckon we could be in for the long haul, all the way to the summer term …

Its been cold, bitterly cold, this week. Indeed, that was a definite silver lining on Wednesday when I walked home at lunchtime (I taught from school for the first day, but at home from then on) – I figured we would have otherwise have been at Kingweston and it would have been perishing. Temperatures have been at or around freezing all week. Today, I thought the sun was going to burn through to give us a beautiful January day, but no, the freezing fog never lifted.

Perhaps because of the cold, the birds have been flocking to our feeding table in the back garden. On Saturday morning, whilst teaching, I was distracted by a long tail tit in the bush outside my window, so I have put a couple of feeders out there in the hope of attracted more feathered friends to break up the monotony of the teaching day.

Because of teaching from home, I felt that the time was right to furnish myself with a Windows 10 computer, in the main so that I can use OneNote for Windows 10 – much quicker than using the browser based version I relied on in lockdown 1. So I found and bought a refurbished ‘pooter on Amazon (£125, 256 SSD Hard Drive 8 GB RAM) which duly arrived, but wouldn’t start. I phoned the helpline for help, but they weren’t any good. In the end, after much intial frustration, scratching of heads by Sam and I, and swapping parts in and out, I figured the problem was one of the four 2GB Ram cards. Long story short, I now have it up and running, albeit with only 6 GB instead of 8.

Today I had another crack at the top mount on the Corsa. Using penetrating spray and a long extension pole, I manged to crack the nut holding it on. So now having loosened a number of bolts that probably haven’t been loosened fro over ten years, I reckon I’m in a position were I can remove the strut next week (Saturday?) and replace the top mount. I am enjoying tinkering with the cars.

Ran today – once again felt slow and difficult, averaging about 5 mins per K (ran 7K) but did the run in nearly 30 secs less than last week, so that is progress. Although annoyingly, I tweaked my right calf, I hope that’s not going to put me out of action for too long – with my weight spiraling upwards I really do need to establish an exercise regime to help control it.

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Ankle

Pic of the week 13/9/20

I came home on Saturday to find Sam mewling with pain and generally feeling sorry for himself.

The night before he had been staying with pals and they went on a night time (drunken) ramble and Sam fell over some logs and hurt his ankle. It was heavily swollen and he couldn’t weight bear.

Fearing it may be broken, this morning Sophie took him to Bridgwater A&E, where they diagnosied a sprain and sent him home. He can now walk gingerly on both feet, although he’s not going in to work until Friday. (He now needs to use his “time off” to focus on his physics  revision.)

The first week of term is over, and its been a tough start working in a socially distanced school. The pupils aren’t really socially distancing, teaching is harder (than normal) – its been a tiring start to the year. I hope we all begin to settle into some sort of normalcy soon, I don’t think the demands of last week are sustainable.  Normally, a day or two into term rhythms and routines are established, but that is yet to be the case.  An “interesting” term awaits, I think.

 

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Run, run, run, run …

Pic of the week 7/6/20

The year began with me refereeing alot, and running not alot. In January, I didn’t run at all. February saw a few games (that I was due to referee) cancelled and I hit the streets on a few occasions, and this continued into mid-March.

And then lockdown happened.

We were told you could only go outside to exercise once a day, for upto an hour. I was grateful that we could go out – I had worried that lockdown may mean that – lockdown – and we wouldn’t be allowed out at all.  With my spinning and swimming cancelled, and now football being played, running was going to become my only exercise.

I decided that I needed to make the most of my outdoor hour – no good just going for a 6K run for 30 mins, no every run would either be my 9.5 Km run or 10 Km run on a Sunday, taking between 45 and 50 minutes. (I only run the 10K run on a Sunday as the roads are quieter. But, although its shorter, the 9.5K run is possibly more brutal as it has a whacking great hill to climb in the middle. My 10K route is reasonably flat.)

As soon as the (Easter) holiday’s came I began running daily, even when term time restarted, I was able to fit in a run “before” school on either a Monday or Thursday.

April saw me rack up in excess of 200 Km, I did less in May, running 145 Km.   At the time of writing, I’ve run 481 Km, and we are not yet half way through the year. It did dawn on me the other day that I might, just might run 1,000 Km this year, quite some target as that equates to one million metres.

I don’t think I will make that total.  I hope I don’t, I hope we return to enough of a normal that I can go spinning again, swim and referee and not be so totally reliant on running for my exercise.

But I am enjoying my running, and 10 K is not quite a walk in the park, but certainly has become the norm.

Bonus photo:

Yesterday, all four of us went on a “Boris” walk together, somewhat of a rarity.

After a couple of weeks of beautiful weather, it turned on Wednesday and we’ve had some rain and yesterday was cold – with rain and a chill wind. However, I’m pleased to report that today was better that expected and I enjoyed some time in the garden, both reading and pottering.