Cats

Two of the cats have hypothyroidism, so we have regular weigh ins at the vet now. They went today. One has gone up slightly, the other has stayed the same as last month. So we go back again next month for another weigh in and another £60 on 30 tablets each this month!

In June they were both 4.1 kg. In July one was 3.9 kg, the other was 3.55. In August one was still 3.9 kg and the other was now 3.6 kg.

time off

Sorry to my readers: I have had some time out with the family recently.

2 kids have been with me, which has been fun. They went back to Florida on Tuesday.

My wife has been operated on - finally. A cyst about 10 cm in diameter was removed. She now has an impressive scar and is on strict "no lifting or bending" for six weeks!

More posts maybe later on!

Daughter’s Dell Inspiron 1525 Laptop

My daughter’s laptop kept on shutting down for no obvious reason. I checked the event logs after it did it last night and could not find any issue. It was very hot, so I suspected over-heating.

Today I removed the base plate by undoing 8 little screws, then under that there is a heat exchanger that is held in place by 5 more screws. I undid them and lifted it off. In the gap between the fan and the vent was the huge plug of dust you can see in the pictures below.

See Dell’s website here for more details on how to remove the “Processor Thermal-Cooling Assembly” as Dell call it.

 

I also ran ccleaner across the registry and deleted a load of junk. The computer is running much faster now.

Greatham walk

 

We went for a walk around Greatham, Hampshire yesterday.

There is a footpath from the main road up to the top of the hill. It was nearly blocked with brambles and nettles but I forced a path through. This is the view from the top of the hill. A field of rape and views all around. Shame it was raining!

We then took a bridleway down to the road towards Selborne. This is the bridleway. This looks like an old “drove road” as it is quite wide. There are banks either side too.

We then walked down the Selborne road, which was quite busy with cars and only had a footpath for the last half. We turned back into the village and past the Manor House. This looks really impressive with its high chimneys, but is hidden from the road. It is used by a Christian fellowship called L’Abri. There are pictures of it on their website here: http://www.labri.org/england/images/photos/property/index.html

Next door to the Manor House are the ruins of St John’s Church.

We then went down the lane by the church ruin and across a set of fields planted with turf. There were big signs warning of prosecution for trespass if we strayed off the path here, but the footpath was marked with direction signs, even if it was a bit difficult in places with nettles and ploughed soil to cross.

At the end of the route I spotted these toadstools.

The whole walk took about 2 hours, but was only about 3 – 4 miles.

Hole

A scene reminiscent of the Somme or from the movie "Holes" greeted us yesterday.

Over by the back fence was a pile of dirt, the base of the fence had been torn away and there was a tunnel under the fence. Perhaps the closest movie should be "The Great Escape" rather than "Holes".

We thought at first that it may be the cats, but it seems too small for them. Finally we concluded that it may be a rabbit hole! We asked around, but no one nearby has lost a rabbit.

See flickr pics

Geek Dads

I can’t say I can do ALL of these 100 skills for geek dads; just MOST of them. http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/07/100-basic-geek-skills-for-geeks/ That’s kind of sad. But I am not alone: see this page too  http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/07/10-reasons-michael-jackson-was-a-geek/.

 

Unfortunately for Maria this one also applies to me… http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/03/10-annoying-hab/

The website is also available as an RSS feed… a podcast… J

 

Walk on the Roman Road

Yesterday evening we went on a different walking route for our exercise regime. We followed the map to the supposed route of the Roman Road at Blackmoor.

This photo shows the road alongside a field of sweet corn (maize). The grass is parched over the route.

This is the route towards the church from the road.