Dell Part Number 023X761 REV A00

Having a bit of a tidy up at work - and I found this

Its just a wee little screw

Here are instructions for use - and an invitation to consult "the documentation that came with your computer" for more information

and here are the disclaimers and copyright notices

Overkill?

Attenborough went to Clyde River...

.
...But I was there first, and boy has the melt got earlier:

The final episode in "Frozen Planet" was all about the changes at the poles in the last few years.

There was a segment filmed at Clyde River - 13 years after my visit - the melt is earlier and cracks are opening up where they never did before.

May 1997:

and now...

...and a very quick back link from the BBC...

I wonder how automatic these things are?  It took just a day or two before the BBC visited my blog

Not good but Baaaaad Fallingbostel

Its Flybe to Hamburg Today

Civilised airline - but we boarded much too early, left way too late but still arrived on time - strange!

American DJ and technical team

Fresh from a gig in Bristol and traveling to Hamburg. We talked Creme Egg Clucking Easter Bunny and the Star DJ ignored all the "personal electronic equipment" exhortations - turning his Iphone back on as soon as the cabin attendant had passed down the aisle.

Gorgeous Gänsebraten

This at the very stylish but rather a chilly walk from the associated hotel "Anders" at Walsrode (http://www.mercurewalsrode.de/anders-erlebnis-gasthaus/)

Menu A at the factory

You can have "Menu A, Menu B and Salatbar!" (helps if you bark it in the style of Helga from Allo Allo). The meat thingie was tasty - sort of a local "all the bits of a pig you would not really like to think about made into something a bit like haggis"

A very nice and clearly family run hotel - Germany's success is based on such businesses

No - I did not!

The local firewater - 50% alcohol and very smooth and minty - my host did not join me in a glass though

"Heidegeist is a herbal liquor , in particular in the Lüneburg Heath is widespread.

Heidegeist contains a total of 31 heathers and has an alcohol content of 50%. It is clear in color and strong flavor ^[1] ."

I really doubt if there are 31 species of heather on the Lüneburg Heath - I had thought of visiting next summer (and in daylight for a change) but contacts who have lived in Fallingbostel for 16 years claim "it is flat and boring"


My glass of "guter heidegeist" was "on-the-house" and Germany was also LOTS cheaper than Dublin - how is that possible?

Public view of the factory - strange that driving past the previous evening the lit up "Kraft" sign gave me a sort of warm "I'm home, there are friends here" feeling - and its not yet been two years

This shop is open to the public - but not at 07:30 in the morning

Bad Fallingbostel used to just be Fallingbostel but then it passed the test set by the German Spas and Bathing Facility Authority and since 2002 it can call itself "Bad"

More Gorgeous Gänsebraten

The sprouts were delicious and were mixed with very salty cubes of bacon - yum yum - having the same for Xmas I think.

Inexpensive Pizza at Hanover Airport

I don't understand about HAJ - huge carparks, huge buildings, offices and towerblocks - but hardly any flights and tiny antiquated terminals.  Perhaps most of the buildings are not directly associated with the flying part of the business.  There is no restaurant airside at terminal B - so I ate before security - somewhat confusing as the staff had German as a second language and I have it as about 300 words - once I had established that the staff came from a) Italy - Pizza Oven and b) Sri-Lanka - till - we switched to a more useful combination of Italian and English.

Hanover seems to be a gateway to Russia and the CIS

I have been to six out of 19!

Ceiling in Terminal B - Non-Schengen Gate

HAJ was very quiet - no queue for check-in and no queue for security - six staff, two lanes - and just me.  I have no idea what all the little pipes are for in the ceiling - perhaps they are sunlight guides?

London with the dome to the centre left

A very familiar sight for those who fly from points south and east into BHX - standard routing is along the north side of the Thames estuary and then turn somewhere over Ealing and straight into Runway 33

Trevor Tranter's Money Making Scheme...

...Lives on

TT used to make £100s at School Fêtes with this simple "game of skill"

Sutton Park at Night

...

This is Adrian Bailey's Photo!

Only the second time I have been to and from an event entirely by train - today was the "big civil service strike" - which meant that Adrian had time to plan a night race in Sutton Park...

Only 32 metres direct distance but it took me 424m and 4min 31s to find number 11

Waiting for the 20:19 Sutton to Selly Oak service

Leave work at 17:00, arrive at event 18:00, catch 20:19 back home - and all for £4.20 + £2 for the orienteering - great!

A faded shell of former glory (or something like that)

And so to the BBC Good Food Show... still good fun but not half as good as it used to be...

Less of the earnest organic-wholefood-vegan-green-eco than before ("organic" is reported to now be a turn off)

The gadget section is smaller - mostly just knives, fewer appliance manufacturers and not so many pots-and-pans.

Supermarkets - well there was Morrissons, Sainsbury and M&S

A very nice stand from Orkney - we chatted about the impact of that beached liner of a Tesco, the dominance of Tunnocks, the ferry to Raasay and the gentlemen who run "The West End"

The "restaurant court" was missing and the drinks side was way down anyway in between Buffalo Burgers to start and Ghuka curry after closing time...

The World Cheese Awards

but sadly straight after judging it was all declared "unfit for consumption" - grrrr - I suppose it makes sense what with the cheese having been manhandled and prodded but more likely because of the large number of cheese retailing stands at the show.

Rossmore Oysters - £2 for a large one - absolutely gorgeous!

Seriously the best taste at the show - "seaside in a mouthful" - so many tastes... shame about the unforgivably misleading news reports "Winter Vomit Virus in Oysters" - the tests just show that there is virus - not whether it is of the human infecting type, nor whether the quantities detected are significant.

The Welsh Government!

The badge on the left reads "Sian Hill, Welsh Government" - funny I thought it would take more than two lovely ladies to run the entire country.

Ghurka Fast Food

A rather lonely stand now that the exhibition had closed - but a very nice curry - from Nuneaton so I guess this must be the restaurant - Crossed Khurkris

Does the world really need 5 competing brands of Toffee Vodka - yes indeed!

The show was over but there was still a crowd around this stall - at a competitors the proprietor had made the mistake of recruiting a friend to help - drinking one little sample for every two served to punters - a swaying and almost incoherent friend by six o'clock.

My haul

The solution to my vodka problem (I buy it, I drink it, no problem!) is to buy some really expensive rum, gin and elderflower brandy - my parsimonious nature easily defeating the closet alcoholic... just one tiny glass of an evening.


Links:

http://www.lulin-teas.com/shop/index.php

www.orkneyherring.com

www.buzzardvalley.co.uk

http://www.schoolofartisanfood.org/Default.aspx

www.vestalvodka.com - possibly a step too far in retaining the so much of the taste and essence of the original potato - and I'm not so sure about for terroir vodka.


www.whitleyneill.com

www.steweduk.co.uk - yes 10/10 really good - even better than the pouched "look what we found"

www.delameredairy.co.uk - met the owners - right next to where I first went orienteering

www.emerald-fox.com - not sure I tried this but it looks great

St-Germain Delice De Sureau  - old blokes on bikes still go picking elderflowers from hedgerows

www.galbani.co.uk

www.welshslate.com - plates from slate

There was also a very nice 8 year old rum (nicer than the 12) - Eldorado by Demerera Distillers in Guyana

Best of all... Long Life Microwaveable Irish Coffee by www.irishcreamliqueurs.com - really nice - I thought there would be some compromise - and some "mingling" of cream and coffee - no, not at all - well done

Marlbrook - 21 years later

I started project work at Marlbrook Factory and moved on the Somerdale in 1990.  This was a flying visit to share information on cleaning systems and standards and to enjoy a remarkable breakfast:

and all for under £2

There is a LOT more traffic now, the journey takes about 90 minutes instead of 70 - and no chance at all of getting close to my all time record of ca. 58 - so I went home via Pencombe and various narrow and twisty roads.

30 minutes on a very cold bench

This evening I took the short cut across Bournville Green.   Someone  was sitting on the stone bench opposite Woodbrook Road.  This is normal - its where all the trendy art college students hang out - so black t-shirt and goth hair cut was nothing out of the ordinary.  Something made me turn back and ask "are you alright"?

Black t-shirt... it is November, its 7PM and its is a bitter night...

Bournville Green - The Xmas Tree

"I don't know where I am."

"This is Bournville Green - you are next to Cadbury's factory, can I help you?"  

"I've run away from the mental home?"

The poor girl has rows of cuts and needle punctures on her upper arms and both forearms are bandaged - I can see fresh blood seeping through - a self harmer - but calm and lucid.

"Do you want to go back?  Is there someone I can contact?"


What to do? - I don't want to call 999 - its not an emergency - but do the mental hospital do a call out?  I am only going to get an office number from directory enquiries.  So I called the 5th emergency service 118 118 and they put me through to the Bournville Lane Police Station - very professional - collected all the necessary information - age (16), name <****>, mental state, physical state, my name, address and mobile number and said they would sort something out.

So there I sat for half an hour - it was a very cold stone bench.  <****> seemed depressed and withdrawn, not surprising, and we had nothing in common as a subject for conversation so I chatted about what I did at Cadbury and pointed out the Wispa and Wholenut buildings and I managed to get some smiles and a few laughs.  A very sweet girl especially when smiling.   I described the Carillon across the road and we had a bit of a "European Geography Quiz"...

I felt guilty not sharing my coat - as I had this and a fleece - but *blood* - I decided that if she shivered once - she would get the coat.

An ambulance turned up - as usual none of the information had made it through so I briefed them - did not seem keen to take <****> to the mental hospital - favouring A&E - not a good idea at all.

At this time of night fifty people and hundreds of cars must have walked/driven past the figure on the bench - either without noticing something was amiss or did and decided not to get involved.

Very sad, very sad indeed - not sure I would be cut out to be a carer - but it would be nice to be able to help.  Feeling a bit sad.

Extremely tense before "The Sprint"

Competitors await the off at Pamber Forest

Its all very serious - the second ever ARDF sprint in the UK - very tricky - some completed in 15 minutes and some were still out after a couple of hours. Not helped by the little red arrow on the cut down map extract - it did not indicate the direction of North - only the direction to run away from the start.  30+ years of orienteering meant that I was not fooled and was back in Ca 19 minutes

...and thats your lot Dublin

All clear over Snowdonia

I can pretty much name all these peaks - not sure about correct pronunciation tho.  I can also do all the numbers stenciled on Airbus A320 Port Engine supports - having stared at these 16 times this year.  Going back you want to be in Row 28 - 29 does not recline but from 28 you can be out and down the back stairs quickly and get pole position in the second bus - which becomes the first bus by the time you get to the security barrier - and if you are quick you get to be in the first group of 4 past the CCTV camera and out to freedom.

This trip was to look at a cooling tunnel - we were making Irish CDM Wholenut - scrummy!

That's a €12 prawn* cocktail that is!

*Much nicer than the one at the Clontarf last week (I believe the chef dines at Seabank) - not least because there was A LOT of lobster in my cocktail - yummy - I suspect that this might have been last week's gate guardian having reached his "boil and eat by" date.

Dover Sole Roulade - with crab meat and other nice stuff

Last time this was on the menu - they ran out of Dover Sole and I had the remaining portion as a starter.

A light Xmas pudding with custard and a dessert wine*

*It was from Bordeaux, not one of the usual suspects - but I can't remember exactly what.  As I was finishing up some very welcome guests arrived - got hugs and all - the lady and gentleman own the best penthouse apartment in Malahide...

THE (!) penthouse in Malahide

as well as hotels in Jamaica (birthday party at Ian Flemings house), and further properties in Dallas and other places around the world I cannot remember - the Gentleman is a retired airline CEO.  They regularly book the restaurant for parties - now I know why they get a hug and I just get a hearty greeting!

Newly decorated Seabank Bistro. Malahide

As this was my final (for now) trip to Dublin I wrote up a restaurant review on Tripadvisor...

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g211873-d2309796-Reviews-Seabank_Bistro-Malahide_County_Dublin.html

Cold Blooded Lizard?

I brought the IR camera back from Dublin to the Bournville Office - which meant I had it overnight at home (this is the £15,000 pound model we have to get permission to take out of the EU and had to sign we would not transfer it to Iran, Cuba, Libya or North Korea)...

Kingfisher Way - my house is on the right

I now have confirmation as to why my heating bills are so low (£8 a month for gas on average) and why I have not yet needed to put my heating on more than twice this autumn; My neighbours live at sauna temperatures...

Party Wall - Living Room - TV and internal wall (left) are at "Room Temperature"

Party wall - Bedroom - lamp and internal wall on right - at room temperature

Non-party wall - this is North facing

 It seems that I am stealing heat from my neighbours - I am quite comfortable at 17 deg C - as long as I am wearing a good sweater and even in bare feet:

Ankle to Toe Thermal Profile

Perhaps if I fitted a heat pump to the wall as well... (they might get suspicious what with the unexplained patch of condensation/ice)

Heating on - +10 minutes

Heating on - +15 minutes

Plus 20 minutes

 ...too hot...