Decorating my home office starting tomorrow.
Just cleared out as much as I can. Gonna be an awkward one this, I will have to work around my computer setup as I may well need to down tools and do some work midway through.
You've got about eight on your tripod
Problem with phone one is you have to calibrate it, if you grab it when you need it there nothing to calibrate it against
"I spent years thinking Yorke was legit Downs-ish disabled and could only achieve lucidity through song" - Mr B
My toilet has been making a loud honking sound when it flushes.
I did some research and found out it is the flush fill valve.
At midnight last night, 4 beers deep I took my flush fill valve apparent, cleaned the offending washer, flushed out any dirt and it is working fine now. I ordered another washer as well, which I will switch in when it arrives.
Basically the problem is the washer rubber degrades over time (roughly ten years which is exactly when my block of flats were redeveloped and toilets installed). Then it vibrates while filling, which causes the pipework to vibrate and make one hell of a noise.
It was a 15 minute job, I could repeat it in ten.
Absolute worst case scenario it is a 30 minutes replacement of the whole valve and ball cock system.
The flat above me has had the same issue. I just put a note on the front door saying I can fix anyone's loo who is having the same fault.
As I did that they had a plumber arrive instead.
The guy has been here over 2 hours now.
God knows what he is doing, their toilet will be the same unit as mine, all the fittings in all the flats are the same.
Im pretty sure I could replace an entire toilet in 2 hours, as an amateur.
Might ask them what he did and what he charged. The replacement washer is 2 quid, a flush fill system is £20 tops.
We went to IKEA late last night to buy one of their death star style pendant lamps.
Got it home and it's got is own flex and ceiling boss, which is a complete bitch especially as it comes with about two metres of flex that has to be bundled up inside the boss with the existing ceiling flex.
Fucking IKEA, why can't they just design the flex attachment so it fits onto a bog standard UK lightbulb fitting.
I was a bit miffed when I went to bed as it would mean cutting flex, rewiring and doing it all over again if we wanted to move the lamp elsewhere.
Got up today determined those Swedes wouldn't beat me.
I worked out how to de-wire the IKEA fitting and incorporate it into a bog standard UK ceiling light and it's working fine and seems rock solid.
I now have my own pseudo death star I can make explode anytime I want. http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2014/03/0ikeaps2014-003.jpg
Bought a 5ft oak worktop to use as a desk.
Rubbed it back using super duper fine sand paper and just applied the first coat of linseed oil.
So immensely satisfying.
It's probably my limit given my hamfistedness -I would love to learn how to solder though. Maybe I should start that.
The thing about electronics is that the kit is cheap. A meter is a tenner. A soldering iron not much more - I have a few things lying about I could practice on.
I bought a beginner book with an accompanying list of components and breadboard to go with the meter a couple of years ago. But of course I lost interest after a couple of weeks - it's why I had a meter to hand to check my cabinet under instruction.
Low voltage stuff though - wouldn't want to mess with anything that has a high voltage.
Quite a few places have charity schemes that host free, brief courses on soldering and household electronics repair. Part of a green drive to stop things going to landfill.
Could be worth having a look to see if there is one in your area.
Yeah, the ones round here are generally called ‘repair café’ or something similar. It’s an attempt to teach hipsters the basic DIY skills their parents never did. Admirable, I think.