The Disicated Mouse (by sarah)

The Rainbow people came again on Tuesday and pronounced that we were wetter than the previous week and therefore the property though very damp is naturally that way and they have returned the building to pre-flood levels. This ment they removed all the fans and dehumidifiers and will be signing us off so that the builders can begin their work.

However they did warn us that any floor covering we put down will go moulding in about a year and have suggested various things like ceramic tiles and waterproof layers - flag stones would apparently be the best as they would allow everything to 'breath' properlly. I think that what will probably happen is that a water proof layer will be painted onto the floor again even though that just means all the moisture will just go round it into the wall cuasing problems with plaster - sigh.

We really wish we had some spar cash so that we could sort it all out properlly once and for all but I dont think thats going to happen for a while yet.

We also found a little shrivelled mummyfied mouse corpse that had been dried out by the dehumidifier - in fact it was pretty much under the machine - I really wish I had a working camera as it was a photo oppertunity I'll probably never have again - gross but interesting - sigh I'm not sure that artist and scientist is such a good mix somethimes!

Cricket Gear II (by sarah)

I have just realised that I forgot to actually show people what the picture of the Cricket Gear that I painted during my GCSE's actually looks like!

Here's the salaric post on it!

http://www.salaric.co.uk/2007/08/26/cricket-gear/

Its not a very good photo but it is of the picture in pride of place at the Cranham Cricket Club 🙂

The Dipper Bird (by sarah)

We apparently have a dipper bird Albert Barbaras gardener informs me - this is a bird that looks like a big wren with a white waistcoat and dives into the water from low laying stones and then 'walks' under water catching things to eat!

I really really want to get a photo of it - its responsible for the strange sounds I've hearing too!

Big Voltmeter (by alaric)

My mate Seth brought me back a lovely big AC voltmeter from India, where the power distribution systems tend to reflect an earlier, more exciting, time where things arced and crackled, and everything was made of Bakelite.

Anyway, it's meant to mount on a panel, and the rear of it just has two exposed screw terminals. So I had to do a bit of work to make it usable.

Firstly, I obtained some crimp terminals - a nice set with eighteen different kinds, including rings, spades (male and female), forks, and butt splices in three different sizes.

Anyway, I really wanted it for the ring terminals, which would securely attach to the screws on the back of the voltmeter. So upon returning to home, I went to Maplin and obtained a large enough box, then spent a pleasant hour or so in the workshop with my father in law drilling holes in the box so that I could mount the voltemeter on it. We also scraped away some paint from the inside of the mounting holes, exposing the bare metal, so that I could attach another ring crimp terminal to the mounting bolt as an earth connection. Better safe than sorry!

The end result is a nice box with the voltmeter mounted on it, with no exposed live metalwork, and a standard mains plug on the other end so it can monitor my mains voltage. This is a pretty useful tool, since we do get power cuts and brownouts and so on quite often out here, and the lights often change brightness at random...

As I write, it's reading a bit over 230v, while earlier, it was reading more like 225v. At some point I'll ask Sarah to turn the shower on (our biggest load) and we'll see how much the voltage drops - because I know the lights usually dim when the shower comes on 🙂

People leave cool things on the kerbside in London (by alaric)

Like this rather large power supply, spotted on Tottenham Court Road:

I'm glad I didn't have the van, or I'd have felt compelled to take it home and try to fix it!