Thursday, March 15, 2018

This and that

Well we didn't come last in the Reindeer quiz last night, for the simple reason that when we got there we learned that the quiz is on Thursday, not Wednesday. Doh! Now we have to go to the Reindeer two nights running. Somehow I don't anticipate your pity.

My new MPPT solar panel controller seems to be working and I have a suspicion that it is tracking max power better than the old one, judging by the amp readings this morning. This new one is a Victron in case anyone is wondering.

A while ago we bought this nice flat bottomed enamel coffee pot with the idea of heating water on the top of the wood burner.



We've only just got round to trying it out, and while the water doesn't reach boiling point, it gets plenty hot enough for washing or washing up or filling hot water bottles. I like it a lot. Yes I know we have a calorifier and a Morco, but that's not the point. It's much more satisfying heated in this jug, a bit like making toast in front of the fire when i was a nipper. Aah those were the days.

I've been plugging on with my second blockbuster novel and we're up to 62098 words, probably including about 61000 typos. Predictive text is driving me mad because it keeps changing what I mean to say into entirely different words. I'll probably re read it and find I have written Gormenghast. Artificial intelligence has some way to go in my opinion. I have to start thinking about how the mess our hero Eric is in gets resolved. At present I don't have a clue. I hope the world is ready to tackle it when I've finished, it does have several hares running at once.

Soon I'll have to start thinking about how to spend all the money I will make from the book. With a bit of luck it might be enough to buy a new set of guitar strings although that might be a tad optimistic as the good ones (Elixir Nanos) are about £14 a set these days.( I only paid £4 for my first guitar as I recall). Well I can dream.

4 comments:

Marilyn, nb Waka Huia said...

Neil, I know you like to fiddle with technology - I was under the impression that on both Macs and Microsoft machines, you can switch off predictive text/auto correct. I have done so on both my home machine (mac) and any work ones (Microsoft) as I find its line of thought is often not the same one my mind is running along ...
Cheers, Marilyn

Herbie Neil said...

Yeah, you're right Marilyn, I'm just to flippin lazy to get round to switching it off. I'm typing the book in word on pc and android tablet, depending where I am. The tablet is the one that I need to fix.

Herbie Neil said...

A few minutes later. There, I've done it. Thanks for the push.

Oakie said...

Well Neil, I still make toast in front of the Morso wood burner. After trying several different methods, the best is a square BBQ flat fish grilling tool, that clamps the bread securely, With a dying fire it can be used above the fire, but with a fierce fire, it needs to be held in front of the fire. You can also watch TV whilst doing it!