YET *EVEN* MORE things that made you happy today!

[J. Wilhelm]

Steaks! Beautiful beef loin steaks for the 4th of July! Access to a giant gas grill oven to cook said steaks. And beer. Brown ale of the German Bock variety.  And "cookies and cream" ice cream (crushed Oreo biscuits in a vanilla custard base). A wonderful new hunting knife which arrived  in post from Sweden yesterday and other elements of my first Steampunk costume! And of course not having to work on a Monday! Woo-hoo!

[ForestB]

I went and retrieved my firstborn son from his three weeks away at "smart people camp" AKA the Duke TIP summer studies program. He was taking a course called Science on the Appalachian Trail and he learned so many interesting things! There was a lot about wild plants and their uses, he discovered that he enjoys hiking, and he even saw some river otters. But I'm glad that he's home. And next week we all go to Antigua, Guatemala, courtesy of my mom, who's taking us on an adventure in one of her favorite places to go...

[Keith_Beef]

I'm temporarily not only single while SWMBO is away for work, but also the offspring are away with auntie, uncle and cousins.

This means that I can cook and eat whatever I want, without having to take into account the whims and fads of the others.

And I took a trip out to the barbecue shop yesterday, for the first time in six months, and came home with 28kg of really good charcoal, a 2kg beef chop, three big bottles of Chipotle tabasco, two tins of peppercorns, 20 bottles of Pimento, 24 bottles of Brew Dog Punk IPA and 24 bottles of Buxton SPA.

In the evening, it was the last horseriding lesson of the season, before the summer break; we went out on the trails through the forest to an area that's more or less wild prairie.

[Siliconous Skumins]

Just finished installing a "Raspberry Pi 3" to use as my replacement computer (old one is now over 10 years old and is still on Win XP on life support). After a bunch of head scratching and internet searching I have found a number of tweaks and programs that will allow me to do 95% of everything I require on the internet.
<SNIP>

You're a brave man, Mr Skummins!    I'm not sure if I'd want to to squeeze that much out of a small circumferential fruit never mind four watts of power.     In what kind of embalage did you install said raspberry?

The 'berry of power' currently resides in a cheap resinous casing made from solidified dead dinosaur juice. This however is temporary, I have a much more suitable enclosure that I am working on, but it will take a little time to complete (very small scale liquid cooling, and fanless operation via a little known feature of Peltier junction heat pumps).

While my Pi is running great and doing a good job as a replacement, the reduced noise compared to my old PC means that the tiny 14mm 5V fan is VERY annoying due to the extremely high speed needed for the tiny blades to effectively push air - it is a very high pitch whine, roughly 18Khz and sounds like a jet turbine in the distance. As the Pi resides only 18 inches away from my right ear, it is rather an unpleasant experience. The sound is not unlike nails dragging down a blackboard continuously...

Hence the silent liquid cooling enclosure.

[J. Wilhelm]

Just finished installing a "Raspberry Pi 3" to use as my replacement computer (old one is now over 10 years old and is still on Win XP on life support). After a bunch of head scratching and internet searching I have found a number of tweaks and programs that will allow me to do 95% of everything I require on the internet.
<SNIP>

You're a brave man, Mr Skummins!    I'm not sure if I'd want to to squeeze that much out of a small circumferential fruit never mind four watts of power.     In what kind of embalage did you install said raspberry?

The 'berry of power' currently resides in a cheap resinous casing made from solidified dead dinosaur juice. This however is temporary, I have a much more suitable enclosure that I am working on, but it will take a little time to complete (very small scale liquid cooling, and fanless operation via a little known feature of Peltier junction heat pumps).

While my Pi is running great and doing a good job as a replacement, the reduced noise compared to my old PC means that the tiny 14mm 5V fan is VERY annoying due to the extremely high speed needed for the tiny blades to effectively push air - it is a very high pitch whine, roughly 18Khz and sounds like a jet turbine in the distance. As the Pi resides only 18 inches away from my right ear, it is rather an unpleasant experience. The sound is not unlike nails dragging down a blackboard continuously...

Hence the silent liquid cooling enclosure.

The solid state cooler sounds interesting. I've been considering that method for another PC project I want to revive (the Parnassus" picture-frame PC. I got a clear "leaded" glass ceiling lamp that is perfect for the cover of the motheboard, so I have to go fish that old thread again.

[J. Wilhelm]

I'm temporarily not only single while SWMBO is away for work, but also the offspring are away with auntie, uncle and cousins.

This means that I can cook and eat whatever I want, without having to take into account the whims and fads of the others.

And I took a trip out to the barbecue shop yesterday, for the first time in six months, and came home with 28kg of really good charcoal, a 2kg beef chop, three big bottles of Chipotle tabasco, two tins of peppercorns, 20 bottles of Pimento, 24 bottles of Brew Dog Punk IPA and 24 bottles of Buxton SPA.

In the evening, it was the last horseriding lesson of the season, before the summer break; we went out on the trails through the forest to an area that's more or less wild prairie.

I get the 2kg of beef chop and the 3 bottles of Tabasco.  But do you really need 44 bottles of beer? That's about 15 L, right? Are you inaugurating a pub in your neighborhood? Or are you going to boil down the 4 gallons of beer into the sauce? (I've would have bought a 1/6 barrel-sized keg)

[The Bullet]

Forget Tabaso,

Take a bit of my chilly oil.

Normal version:
2 gabs of extra hot chillies, thyme, tarragon and one garlic clove.
chop, put in an big glass jar, top up with olive oil, leave for  weeks, then filter.

Extra hot version:
3 bags of extra hot chillies, 3 cloves of garlic.

Great to put 5 to 10 drops on a steak a minute before I take it off the barbecue.

I also tried that with mint. Funny effect. At first you only taste mint, then....BANG!

[J. Wilhelm]

Forget Tabaso,

Take a bit of my chilly oil.

Normal version:
2 gabs of extra hot chillies, thyme, tarragon and one garlic clove.
chop, put in an big glass jar, top up with olive oil, leave for  weeks, then filter.

Extra hot version:
3 bags of extra hot chillies, 3 cloves of garlic.

Great to put 5 to 10 drops on a steak a minute before I take it off the barbecue.

I also tried that with mint. Funny effect. At first you only taste mint, then....BANG!

Well we haven't really asked about the nature of his cooking, how or what sauce he is preparing. To my American ears BBQ (barbecue) has a very specific meaning, and it involves making a cooking sauce by boiling a pot with tomato sauce, dry Chile pepper, other fresh chiles, countless spices and molasses/treacle/brown sugar, garlic/onions etc.  Even Worcestershire sauce. I'm not sure about Tabasco though. Chiles tend to lose their capsicum heat with high temperature, so you overkill on spices before mopping the sauce over the meat.

[Caledonian]

i am almost positive I'll get a job at the cinema.

Nevermind this. I was still turned down.

BUT!! I got a job as mail deliverer.

[SeVeNeVeS]

At this time of year where I live, we get almost daily flybyes of a WW2 Spitfire, today he was doing some aerobatics and some fancy turns, made my day hearing that Merlin engine and watching. It's the small things in life sometimes...........

[Inflatable Friend]

At this time of year where I live, we get almost daily flybyes of a WW2 Spitfire, today he was doing some aerobatics and some fancy turns, made my day hearing that Merlin engine and watching. It's the small things in life sometimes...........

I miss that, I used to live near Filton airfield in Bristol, there was a spitfire that flew out of there for a long time, used to just get out and have fun in the sky, occasionally there was a second aircraft and they'd play dogfighting.

After a while enough people complained and forced them to relocate their fun and games away. These days of course it's all moot, the airfield was closed, the hangers demolished and trenches dug into the runway where once Concord and the Brabizon took off. Progress, apparently.

A shame really, I remember visiting the hangers during an open day and seeing all the aircraft, ambition and rocket work. Once we hoped to live in space, but now we're resigned to die on earth.


Ahem.

What made me happy; relaxing shirtless in the garden, when a strange tickling alerted me to something on my chest. It was a tiny Praying Mantis that spent a good few minutes slowly exploring my chest in search of food before hopping up onto my shoulder then off into the garden. Made me smile.

[ForestB]

The whole family is off to Guatemala tomorrow morning for a week of adventure, courtesy of my mom... this is the first time I've traveled internationally, so it's a whole new experience.

[J. Wilhelm]

The whole family is off to Guatemala tomorrow morning for a week of adventure, courtesy of my mom... this is the first time I've traveled internationally, so it's a whole new experience.

Have fun and a safe voyage! I think being your first time out of the US, you'll find Guatemala exceedingly exotic. And even more exotic than traveling to say Argentina or Mexico, because the size and development of Guatemala is very different, economically speaking.

As a first timer, just be vigilant in the streets. If Guatemala is anything like Mexico, you will be surprised to find a number of poor children and older people begging in the streets all the time (and I mean all the time) as the government struggles to enforce universal education, and provide for the poor. You will find ambulant vendors trying to sell tourists something incessantly.  This is something that can be overwhelming for most Americans when they go, say to beach resorts or cities. Foreigners are seen as sources of money, basically, and that is a nation where on average income is low so the market forces as strong.

Otherwise Guatemala is like the Ireland of Central America; everything is so green! I imagine you've been told about the topography! Are you visiting the Mayan centers? My Mayan experience was on the other side of the border, in the Mexican states of Chiapas, Yucatan and Quintana Roo. Bring back some handcrafted Mayan style souvenirs. People there are fiercely proud of their history, and you'll find the artisan crafts are a major industry in those countries.

For me, when I was about 9 or 10 years old, it was a phenomenal adventure. We drove a 19ft RV, from our house in Mexico City, and and drove around the Yucatan state peninsula, east to the state of Quintana Roo, stopping at Can Cun and then turning southeast back to Chiapas state. We drove past the border with Guatemala.

[ForestB]

The whole family is off to Guatemala tomorrow morning for a week of adventure, courtesy of my mom... this is the first time I've traveled internationally, so it's a whole new experience.

Have fun and a safe voyage! I think being your first time out of the US, you'll find Guatemala exceedingly exotic. And even more exotic than traveling to say Argentina or Mexico, because the size and development of Guatemala is very different, economically speaking.

As a first timer, just be vigilant in the streets. If Guatemala is anything like Mexico, you will be surprised to find a number of poor children and older people begging in the streets all the time (and I mean all the time) as the government struggles to enforce universal education, and provide for the poor. You will find ambulant vendors trying to sell tourists something incessantly.  This is something that can be overwhelming for most Americans when they go, say to beach resorts or cities. Foreigners
are seen as sources of money, basically, and that is a nation where on average income is low so the market forces as strong.
Otherwise Guatemala is like the Ireland of Central America; everything is so green! I imagine you've been told about the topography! Are you visiting the Mayan centers? My Mayan experience was on the other side of the border, in the Mexican states of Chiapas, Yucatan and Quintana Roo. Bring back some handcrafted Mayan style souvenirs. People there are fiercely proud of their history, and you'll find the artisan crafts are a major industry in those countries.
For me, when I was about 9 or 10 years old, it was a phenomenal adventure. We drove a 19ft RV, from our house in Mexico City, and and drove around the Yucatan state peninsula, east to the state of Quintana Roo, stopping at Can Cun and then turning southeast back to Chiapas state. We drove past the border with Guatemala.

We are going to be in Antigua, my mom has a lot of travel experience in Central/South America, and she has a whole bunch of activities planned. We are going to hike up a volcano, visit a coffee co-op, and a macadamia farm. I think I will need a vacation from my vacation....

[J. Wilhelm]

You're very lucky. That counts as a "senior" adventure already. A far cry from just plopping yourself on a beach.

[ForestB]

You're very lucky. That counts as a "senior" adventure already. A far cry from just plopping yourself on a beach.

She's a meeting planner, knowing how to keep people busy is what she does...

[Banfili]

BUT!! I got a job as mail deliverer.

Well done, Caledonian! Out in the fresh air and sunshine (this time of year!)!

[SeVeNeVeS]

At this time of year where I live, we get almost daily flybyes of a WW2 Spitfire, today he was doing some aerobatics and some fancy turns, made my day hearing that Merlin engine and watching. It's the small things in life sometimes...........

I miss that, I used to live near Filton airfield in Bristol, there was a spitfire that flew out of there for a long time, used to just get out and have fun in the sky, occasionally there was a second aircraft and they'd play dogfighting.

After a while enough people complained and forced them to relocate their fun and games away. These days of course it's all moot, the airfield was closed, the hangers demolished and trenches dug into the runway where once Concord and the Brabizon took off. Progress, apparently.

A shame really, I remember visiting the hangers during an open day and seeing all the aircraft, ambition and rocket work. Once we hoped to live in space, but now we're resigned to die on earth.


Ahem.

What made me happy; relaxing shirtless in the garden, when a strange tickling alerted me to something on my chest. It was a tiny Praying Mantis that spent a good few minutes slowly exploring my chest in search of food before hopping up onto my shoulder then off into the garden. Made me smile.

I'm pretty sure they come from Goodwood up the road, around Chichester.

As for the beasties, you could be a man after my own heart there, no Praying Mantis in the Uk but often whilst sitting by my small pond I get the odd Damsel fly or common darter land on me, love it, all when watching the newts. Ponds are great and would advise anyone to do what little they can  to encourage that small bit of wildlife into the city. (as aside note... my parents have fox roaming around, slap bang in the city, walled garden, they are not pleased but I think it's cool, no harm done, so why not?)

[Keith_Beef]

I'm temporarily not only single while SWMBO is away for work, but also the offspring are away with auntie, uncle and cousins.

This means that I can cook and eat whatever I want, without having to take into account the whims and fads of the others.

And I took a trip out to the barbecue shop yesterday, for the first time in six months, and came home with 28kg of really good charcoal, a 2kg beef chop, three big bottles of Chipotle tabasco, two tins of peppercorns, 20 bottles of Pimento, 24 bottles of Brew Dog Punk IPA and 24 bottles of Buxton SPA.

In the evening, it was the last horseriding lesson of the season, before the summer break; we went out on the trails through the forest to an area that's more or less wild prairie.

I get the 2kg of beef chop and the 3 bottles of Tabasco.  But do you really need 44 bottles of beer? That's about 15 L, right? Are you inaugurating a pub in your neighborhood? Or are you going to boil down the 4 gallons of beer into the sauce? (I've would have bought a 1/6 barrel-sized keg)

Two cases of 24 bottles, each containing 330ml of beer is 15.84 litres.

It might seem like a lot, but I only go to that shop about once every three to six months. Forty eight bottles over three months is less than two bottles per day.

[Mercury Wells]

Robot Wars is going to be back on BBC 2.!  

(I wonder if it be worth it, if BG got together an designed/built a Robot & entered it?)

[Keith_Beef]

I needed to go into town for supplies yesterday, so I went out to the car where it had been parked on the street since taking my daughter to the railway station four days earlier... to find that I had left the front passenger window wide open.

A few leaves had blown in, but no rain and nothing had been stolen.

I really appreciate living in this town.

[Inflatable Friend]

Robot Wars is going to be back on BBC 2.! 

(I wonder if it be worth it, if BG got together an designed/built a Robot & entered it?)

Ooh, I love a bit of robot wars. Can't help but want a new class of fight introduced though, one where the fighting bots were computer, not human, driven.

[Banfili]

Counting down to Irish trip - 6 days to go!

[The Bullet]

Ooh, I love a bit of robot wars.

Cancel the weight limit and I´m in.

[Keith_Beef]

My son came back from the south-west, where he's been staying with aunty, uncle and cousins for a couple of weeks, so after work I went to meet him at Austerlitz station. There, I found that he had met on the train the daughter of friends of ours.

So the three of us walked over the bridge from Austerlitz station to Lyon station and then took the suburban line back home; we took the girl's train as far as where the line branches, where my son and I changed to a different train.

Then walking back from town to our house I found on the kerbside two steel ice buckets that a restaurant had put out as rubbish. A great find for my bar! And about eight hundred yards further along, we found a three-panel screen that had also been put out as rubbish. Even if it turns out that the pictures are spoiled or don't fit with the decoration of his room, my son can re-cover it with something better.