Pupdate

The boys have enjoyed having their people around a bit more than usual and some extra long walks. Though the weather hasn’t always been obliging.

Mum’s 80th

My mum’s birthday falls just before Christmas, and this was a BIG one, which called for a family gathering. My sister drove her down to join my brother and our families, and it was good to get together for a big birthday dinner[1].

Triple Tyre Trouble

Sometimes bad things come in threes. They certainly did this month with tyres on my wife’s car.

1. I was asked to look at the tyres after an alert from the tyre pressure warning system (TPWS) and sure enough there was a problem with one of the rears. So the car had to stay home with me and go to a local garage for a puncture repair.
2. Only days later a punctured front tyre. Though this time it was the side wall (after clipping a kerb, after dodging a truck), making repair impossible. It took a couple of days to arrange for a mobile fitter to show up and put on a replacement, and annoyingly the second tyre for the other side hadn’t arrived in time. Though I will complement Blackcircles, and their fitter CVS for being helpful in sorting out a second fitting at home the following day (and getting the car back on the road).
3. Another TPWS warning, for one of the brand new tyres :( Blackcircles were less obliging this time around, though after a little chasing they did pay for the replacement valve fitting that was needed to sort it out.

Dryer Repair

My tumble dryer had been making noises for a while, and I ordered a replacement drive belt in anticipation of failure. But… when I came to take it apart things were much worse.

The bearing had completely worn through, and then the sheet metal around the bearing had cut through the shaft. Thankfully a kit of parts, including some new seals, was £22.99 and delivered a few days later. It was a few hours work to take the machine apart, clean it out, and reassemble everything. But it’s much quieter now, so fingers crossed for a few more years of trouble free operation.

Of course I’ve never done this type of work before, so once again YouTube to the rescue with ‘You Can Replace Tumble Dryer Shaft & Bearings EASILY Yourself!‘.

Warship

I started watching ‘Warship‘ back in August, and its four series have kept me entertained for morning workouts since, but all good things come to an end (and the final episode was very good).

I’ve now moved on to the similarly themed, but much less well received ‘Making Waves‘. Although this hit the airwaves not long after I left the Navy only half of the episodes were broadcast (and even then in a very haphazard schedule). So much of it will be new for me (if I can put up with the ‘The Bill’ inspired shaky camera work, and the annoying whistle noises too frequently used to create tension).

Solar Diary

Another cloudy (and wet) December leading to not very much power :(

Beating Beat Saber

The poor weather had meant a few VR workouts to top up on shorter walks. I finally managed to Full Combo ‘Lift Off‘ from OST6 at Expert level.

Looking back to a year ago I was still complaining about tracking issues with the Quest 3, and those seem to be straightened out now (after controller firmware updates seemingly almost every time I use it).

Mr. Do!

Mr. Do! is one of my all time favourite arcade games. I used to enjoy playing it in the Tynemouth Plaza and Whitley Bay Spanish City as a kid, and I still love it today. The Christmas break has brought some time for a few games, and one of my weirdest ever – two diamonds (that grant a free credit) in two sequential levels. Those things only show up once every handful of games, so getting two in a row is some weird fluke.

Of course that game ended up being cursed. Though the first (free) game afterwards netted me a nice high score :)

Note

[1] Miller & Carter in Haywards Heath did an excellent job of looking after the large group of us :)