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Doh #facepalm. Lack of forum time, I thought I’d caught up!! I only spoke to him yesterday irl!

Nothing is sacred…

I have loads of spider plant babies, just need sitting in a jug of water until some roots get growing, then potting up. Free, collection Nunhead.

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You’re listening to Radio 4 this afternoon ...

With the blood ox - are you taking several readings at rest, different fingers, wiggle it about a bit on the fingertip before resting to take the reading. Doesn’t sound scientific, but will mean you can find the best reading - which is what counts. I usually end up taking 5-6 readings, it’s the highest one you need. Gets better if you lay down and take it while resting. Take 3 times daily for the first two weeks.

As @aroogah said - we’ve had it. Positive tests. I had fevers for 48hrs then cold/flu symptoms and oh ... so very tired. Loads of sinus congestion, not really a blocked nose. Cough but not too persistent, a bit of a wheeze. Headache. Started turning around after week 3. Had 2.5 weeks off work. Dr prescribed me Zinc (double daily dose), Vitamin D, and I also took hydroxychloroquine for 5 days early on. Also the usual cold/flu meds. Since have had a steroid nasal spray to clear the congestion. Overruling thing has been fatigue. No loss of smell/taste though.

Week 4 I finally started thinking about tomorrow rather than bearing with today, and feeling tired about yesterday. Colleagues say that the fatigue is the thing that lingers.

Do keep an eye on blood ox levels as they seem to be the thing that can give a heads up if you need scans or hospital treatments.

And drink plenty water - I’ve found I’ve been way more thirsty the past month. Have those hot/cold beakers by the bed that gives a welcome cold blast of water when needed during the night.

Also - those breathing exercises, can find the link if you need. Keeps the deep lung function, to prevent covid creeping in there. The scary comment from my GP early on was ‘once it has you, there isn’t much you can do’. Follow any advice you can get.

*hydroxychloroquine has polarised views, not all gp’s will prescribe for covid, it’s an anti-malarial, possible positive covid subsequent effect of hospitalisation needed, but (usual) low side effects of you do take it. I have taken plenty anti-malarial’s in the past so figured it wouldn’t hurt to take it. Had some minor side effects but nothing more than a day or two.

@Dammit - Reason being for the replacement, was that the Sonos was breaking up, also mobile phone calls, when the microwave came on. Noticed this for a few weeks, Google said that there may be microwave leakage with age. New microwave, no interference.

Previously unknown Sonos advantage is its ability to detect failing microwave screenage.

We got a Kinetico softener (fits under sink), fitted by Simply Soft (Dartford). They run a flush after rinsing the filter units which Harvey’s don’t do. Harvey’s consequently can have an occasional salty taste). No power needed, £6 consumable salt blocks last a couple of weeks. We had it fitted just before the bathrooms were completely redone. Best thing since sliced bread - no limes ale build up at all, skin feels softer, more efficient laundry, dish washer, toiletries. We have a couple of un-softened supplies - drinking water to fridge dispenser and back garden tap. All else (including kitchen sink - so kettle and cooking) is softened. Cost about £1k, almost 18 months in and haven’t looked back.

That was super fun, and I was 8 months pregnant at the time!!

I missed that, but B did ask if they said the ‘s’ word...

That was shocking. Car split in two with Grosjean going with the front half through the split in the barriers. Amazing to see him hop back over the barriers, sincerely hope he’s ok.

Blimey! Eventful!!

This would be great, last weeks race was so dull. Much more spiced up this week.

:(

Wow! That's darned cool!

@grams and @allshookup - Thank you!! will drop Tim a line! The machine doesn't work without the capacitor, but I have read that the 707 one doesn't have a capacitor in the pedal like other models and so it does need a capacitor. I have the same problem with my newer Bernina, capacitor has gone and I have a replacement on the way - but that one does work without the capacitor.

Managed to rescue my Mum's Bernina 707 sewing machine that was about to go to the dump.

The capacitor has failed (otherwise it is in great condition). Having looked into it, it appears that replacements are obsolete. however I've found a few references to recreating the same capacitance using new ones from Maplin, etc. People have mentioned just wiring a couple of 0.1 µf in series (400 or 500v?), and connecting to the three non-earth wires. (apparently the motor is double insulated so you don't actually need to connect the earth wire).

Usefully, the capacitor has a wiring diagram on it. I have the soldering iron & kit to do the repair, but if someone could help me identify exactly which capacitors to get (from RS?), and how to connect them, that would be awesome!!

Photos here, including the wiring diagram. Any pointers much appreciated!!

Edit: If I don't need the earth wire, then that takes two of the capacitors out of the equation (see diagram in the link above), so would this then work with a 0.06µF and 0.02µF connected across the white, black and grey wires? What voltage / which components should I get from the myriad on RS?

I don’t expect it to last forever, and pine* is what I have - I picked up a car full of random stuff from Whittens before it closed, so it’s what I have. First project and if it lasts this year I’ll be happy!! Would I be better painting it? Open to ideas!!

*how do you work out what wood is? I’m guessing it is pine!!

Paging the oracles - I’m having a go at my first proper woodworking project. Pine wood, will be outdoors, plant pot shelving thing. Was planning to treat with Teak Oil. Will this be effective on pine? Should I prime the pine? Should I use something else? Should I apply the oil (or whatever) before or after assembly? Muchos gracias!!

I've done the same with cat safe house plants (and garden plants in pots). Look up this - https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants - I found it extremely useful.

As well as some tricolour prayer plants, I have African Violets and Streptocarpus (both from Dibleys.com - better to buy from specialists, than ebay I have found!). Also a bunch of variants of Hoyas.

I have a couple of bottle palms, the cats chew their leaves occasionally, but I don't think the plants are particularly happy as they are no longer 'bottled', ie don't seem to be storing water. Difficult to keep, they don't like plant food I have found out recently. They last a while, but not long term. I also have a big cheese plant, technically not cat safe, but large waxy leaves are not ones that cats choose to eat. I also have spider plants (I have spider babies if you want). If you dig around you can find curly ones, and plain green ones, a bit more interesting.

Keep an eye on anything with long thin, grass like leaves (like the bottle palms). The cats (well mine) will want to chew those, and those you need to be sure are cat friendly. Dragon Tree (Dracaena) for example are toxic. Also Ferns, a lot are toxic, but not all. The 'String of Pearls' plant, highly toxic.

Avoid Lilies and that family like the plague. If you have cut flowers in the house, then take out any pollen bearing stamens. Especially lilies - if any gets on their fur, which they will then lick. Organ failure.

There is a good range of cat friendly choices out there, the ASPCA site is a great help to work out what you can work with.

They look similar to some stick on cubes that I had when I was in school, metallic faced, came in sheets and you cut them down the rows or whatever. I think I got them from France in the mid-80’s. Where do you get them from @edmundro?

Spider plants, African violets, Hoyas. All cat friendly. I also have a Swiss cheese plant - not cat friendly but cats generally don’t try and eat it. This is a really useful resource for what is/is not poisonous - https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants.

There are some plants that are an absolute no-no. Lilies, string of pearls, etc.

HSBC virus is on Bloomberg scrolling news ticker.

Whitten Timber are almost all out of stock - they are selling off what’s left at discount in some cases. I filled the car up with a mixture of stuff last weekend, got a big bag of chopped firewood thrown in for free - to practise my newly acquired tools with.

The land Whitten are on is prime development land sadly, the company scored its 100yr birthday last year and is basically ceasing trading. Their cutting business is being taken on by another company (East London somewhere) with the Whitten name, but otherwise it is not relocating or continuing trading.

Shame, I got some lovely Yew pieces there a few years ago, they used to have some super stuff.

Katherine Johnson, Nasa mathematician portrayed in Hidden Figures, dies at 101 - a true pioneer. RIP