WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Tizer]

I hope he gets over the shock quickly and that the car damage isn't too serious. There'll probably be more accidents on Sunday when Yorkshire gets a heavy snowfall.

Unbelievably, this wasn't an accident...
`Man 'cements microwave to head' in Wolverhampton' LINK

[PanBiker]

Probably a bit of snow already over there, we have a bit in Barlick frozen hard, bound to be worse over the Herders.

[Big Kev]

Sounds suspiciously like the Bowker Drain to me.

Apparently it's a branch of the Crownest Syke.

[Tripps]

There's a lot in the press in the last few days about the 'value' of bitcoins going through the roof. This is I think, the reality of the situation. If you can't make a go of it in Cambridge then where can you?

Bitcoin Cambridge

[Stanley]

I didn't know it had any branches Kev. I'd still put my money on the Bowker Drain.
The pair of blokes who, despite me shouting, refused to stop when Jack took an interest in their attractive bitch. I had to chase them onto the front of Forester's Buildings before they stopped to let me get him on the leash. All I wanted them to do was stand still for two minutes!

[Tizer]

There's just been a big hack and theft of Bitcoins...
`Millions 'stolen' in NiceHash Bitcoin heist' LINK

The banks have realised that the main users of Bitcoin are criminals which means they don't want to accept it and if they find you are dabbling in it in serious amounts they'll ditch your account pronto. On the other hand, they're looking at how it works because they'd love to be `online only'.

[Marilyn]

Sunday morning...sat sitting...waiting for the Plumber. Another flood in our kitchen this morning...came through the bottom of the pantry wall...gallons of the stuff. ( but I jumped in bravely and rescued our wines, so that is one good thing).
I am more cross that I spent 3 hours cleaning our pantry last week and now I may have to take everything out if the Plumber needs to remove shelves and get into the wall. ( the shelves being permanently fixed into the walls)
It hasn't been a good week for us actually.
I asked Febby this morning if he had upset the Gods or something, because anything that could go wrong lately, has.
As Alan Carr would say " Wot a week it's bin!"

[Stanley]

Maz's burst pipe.



Maz asked how my finger was doing. As far as I know it is OK, still tender but no swelling. I am keeping the dressing tidy but won't take it off until Tuesday, a week after it went on. There should be progress!

[Marilyn]

That is looking good, Stanley.

Plumber cut 4 holes ( between each shelf) after we did a human chain of removing pantry contents. He started at the bottom and worked his way up. Made a hell of a mess - insulation/plasterboard and water everywhere! Finally he climbed on top of the pantry, which doesn't reach the ceiling, and cut another hole. bingo! Found the pipe had ruptured. Fixed now and it took about 2 hours for cleanup.
The plumber is a nice young man. He had promised to take his kids to the beach today and they were so upset that Daddy had to work instead. His 4 year old had a tantrum when he left to come to ours. He also said they have a brand new baby, so everyone is a bit short of sleep at home. ( he looked like he hadn't found time to shave this morning and possibly the last two or three mornings, and his hair could have welcomed a brush!)
We all know what it is like with a new baby in the house. Not much fun.
I hope the kids made it to the beach anyway.

Not sure yet if it will be an insurance claim. He said he would send the bill when he got round to it and it would certainly qualify under insurance for all the damage it caused.
That is this year's Christmas Gremlins out of the way...hopefully!

[Stanley]

I'm glad you sorted it Maz. Water coming in is so destructive, I've been there and have the tee shirt!
Looks as though the pipe was flawed when first installed......

[Marilyn]

Plumber thought it may have been a manufacturing fault, possibly visible as a line or crease at point of installation...but who checks? Nobody. We are so "over" plumbing problems... I think we have had more than average in our various homes.
( plumbing problems have always been from incoming pipes, never pipes that leave our home)

[Stanley]

[Tizer]

We were fortunate last week with the plumber in and it went very well. He was recommended by my cousin and he's meticulous but fast. New rads, new combi boiler, HW cylinder and cold water tank out, water on mains pressure now, airing cupboard free of cylinder therefore fully decked out with shelving for airing clothes and a tiny rad to keep it warm (Mrs Tiz very pleased!). He finished on Friday afternoon and I painted white emulsion on the walls of the cupboard. That wa lucky because as I bent down to paint near the floor I saw drops of water running down a pipe at the back. Got on the phone and he returned in 10 minutes and fixed it. No other leaks detected. The only remaining problem is that the hallway rad keeps having fits of noisy vibration. We think the new TRV must be at fault and he's coming on Wednesday to test our gas fire so he'll have a look at it then. I hope your pipe problems get sorted Maz and that you don't have any more in the future.

This grabbed my attention...Under a headline `University chiefs' pay soars 10%' in the Sunday Times there is a cartoon showing a headmaster at his desk, opening an envelope and saying "It's a begging letter from a banker."

Another attention grabber. We've no snow here, just gale force winds and driving rain, but my sister-in-law who lives near High Wycombe is out with her family making a snowman!

[plaques]

We think the new TRV must be at fault and he's coming on Wednesday...

Last week one of our TRV control tops simply fell off. The plastic near the restraining ring had become brittle. Admittedly they had been in for some 8 years but the makers had been taken over so sourcing a new one got a bit difficult. Perhaps you may think about buying a spare just to be safe.

[Big Kev]

We think the new TRV must be at fault and he's coming on Wednesday...

Last week one of our TRV control tops simply fell off. The plastic near the restraining ring had become brittle. Admittedly they had been in for some 8 years but the makers had been taken over so sourcing a new one got a bit difficult. Perhaps you may think about buying a spare just to be safe.

I had a noisy TRV in my previous house, turned outit was on the wrong way round. A temporary fix to quieten it down was to reduce the speed of the pump.

[Stanley]

"Mrs Tiz very pleased!" I think that's the key phrase Tiz!
It threatened snow for much of the day yesterday but it never happened. Snowfall seems to have been further south and quite localised up here.
The way the barometer plunged to 972mb, a very low reading.
One of the best UK Masters finals I have ever seen and it ended with my mate Ronnie securing his sixth title. Sublime snooker from both of them if you fancy that sort of thing!
Later..... If you want any sort of wound dressing beyond a sticky plaster, don't bother going to the Barlick chemists... I was even told in one that the profession doesn't use the non stick Vaseline gauze any longer..... I suppose it's a case of 'There's no call for it....'.

[Tizer]

I had a noisy TRV in my previous house, turned out it was on the wrong way round.

Kev, by `wrong way round' do you mean it was on the outlet instead of the inlet pipe or that the wrong joint on the TRV was connected to the pipe? Our new TRVs each have two arrows on them showing how they should be connected (and they're all correct). We were also told they can be put on either end of the rad.
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There's news this morning that Bitcoin futures trading begins today on the CBOE exchange in Chicago. The BBC article says: "Bitcoin has begun trading on a major exchange for the first time. It launched on the CBOE futures exchange in Chicago at 23:00 GMT Sunday, allowing investors to bet on whether Bitcoin prices will rise or fall. In the lead-up to its futures debut, the value of the digital currency has surged. Bitcoin's introduction to the CBOE has been seen by some as a step towards legitimising the currency. The move is expected to be followed next week by a listing on the rival Chicago Mercantile Exchange."

I'm very sceptical and wary about these virtual currencies for reasons I've mentioned elsewhere on OG, principally that they are not safe, they're used mostly by criminals and they're predicted to crash dramatically very soon. Other people take a different view, as shown by the Chicago news. But now there's another issue that hasn't been discussed widely and has very serious implications for us all. It was raised in The Times on Saturday, page 27, and I've copied the article below. I don't usually copy other people's publications onto the Web but in this case it it's much better to let you see the full details as published. (For anyone who wants to know what Bitcoin mining is all about, have a look at this page - but make yourself a cup of coffee first and settle down in a comfy chair!)

[Big Kev]

I had a noisy TRV in my previous house, turned out it was on the wrong way round.

Kev, by `wrong way round' do you mean it was on the outlet instead of the inlet pipe or that the wrong joint on the TRV was connected to the pipe? Our new TRVs each have two arrows on them showing how they should be connected (and they're all correct). We were also told they can be put on either end of the rad.
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It was on the flow (inlet) and should have been on the return (outlet), slowing down the pump did quieten it down until the weather warmed up and I had opportunity to turn it around . Sounds like yours may be a faulty valve...

[Tizer]

The plumber is going to bring a new valve with him on Wednesday. I won't then be able to play musical notes on the TRV!

[Stanley]

Bitcoins.... Have I missed something? Or has All Fools Day come early......

[Bodger]

IF YOU BOUGHT $5 OF BITCOIN 7 YEARS AGO, YOU’D BE $4.4 MILLION RICHER http://globalnewsie24.dailynews.ovh/ind ... m_ZID=8019

[Marilyn]

What a load of twaddle...they would have been stolen 10x over by now!

[Tripps]

I found this on the internet - instructions as to how to get your digits on some Bitcoins - nearly as difficult as I find posting a picture on here via the gallery -

"Download bitaddress.org, verify it and save to USB or disk. Format PC or Mac doing at minimum a 3-pass-secure erase so that it is clean. Do fresh OS install, fire up bitaddress.org that you downloaded previously then create multiple paper wallets and print off private keys. Transfer small amount of BTC to paper wallet address as test. Confirm transfer via the blockchain then transfer your remaining BTC. Secure securely in multiple, at least 2, locations."

Simples. I suspect this whole thing is mythical.

[Tizer]

On Money Box we heard Paul Lewis interview a man, an ordinary sounding bloke, who'd thought he could invest his money in bitcoin and make lots more. He put in £40,000 of savings and then found he got nothing in return. All gone, zero, disappeared into cyberspace. So what will he do? He told Money Box that he's going to try again! It's just an almighty pyramid scam really.

[Tizer]

We've no snow here, just gale force winds and driving rain, but my sister-in-law who lives near High Wycombe is out with her family making a snowman!

And here's the proof that they had snow, two of the children of Mrs Tiz's niece...