Category: Uncategorised

  • café gray, Greystones

    café gray, Greystones

    Nice place, no loud music (it’s there, but way down in the background), comfy chairs, good sound insulation from the busy main road. Pity about the lemon in the apple and almond slice.

  • Watching thousands of Euro go up in smoke

    The locals in Germany seem very fond of fireworks. As 2019 was rung in, fireworks were going off across Höchst all through the hours leading up to midnight. From ~2345 until ~0045, I felt sorry for any dogs, or people who have PTSD that can be triggered by loud noises – it was an absolute…

  • Banks and security requirements

    Banks and security requirements

    I’m in the middle of opening a bank account with KBC, and I’m both sadly amused and annoyed with them. Let us start with their security verification questions when creating an account. Rather than rant, I shall quote the National Cyber Security Centre in the UK. If your security question asks for a fixed piece…

  • Poking a BT Mini Broadband Hotspot 600

    Poking a BT Mini Broadband Hotspot 600

    The signal from my broadband router is pretty poor by the time it reaches the bedroom at the other end of the apartment, so a number of years ago I bought a BT Homespot 600 (mini edition). It does the job, though various devices (mostly those by a certain fruit company) think that they should…

  • New Mast!

    The old mast has been carved up, and the new mast has been stepped. The rigging is attached, and the roller-furling was assembled on-site and then attached. Thank goodness this was a short mast, because it still took 4 people to put it up. Had the boat been any longer, we’d probably have needed a…

  • Goodbye Grandpa

    I stand in an old wooden shed. My nose is assaulted by the smells I would smell whenever I visited my grandfather’s workshop as a child – engine oil, sawdust, wood, metal and hints of the sea. I’m surrounded by drills, both electric and hand-powered; boxes of tools for boat work, house work and wood…